The federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) opened a second round of the Powering the Regions Fund: Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) program on Friday, with $70 million allocated to assist industrial businesses to decarbonise. Following Thursday’s announcement of a $39.8 million grant awarded through the fund to the nation’s only silicon producer, Simcoa Operations,…
Construction industry chemicals company Mapei has officially launched Mapecube, a range of concrete admixtures, with an Australian formulation developed at the company’s Brisbane plant. According to a statement from the Milan, Italy-based company on Friday (Australian time), Mapecube is “designed to strengthen and reduce the CO2 footprint of concrete” and allows concrete producers to “use…
Brisbane-based, Canadian-listed Graphene Manufacturing Group has raised $C 5,796,000 (approximately $6.4 million) at a price of $C 0.80 per unit. According to a statement from the company on Friday (Australian time), the net proceeds will be used to expand its production capacity to increase sales, for R&D on its Graphene Aluminium-Ion Battery with the Battery…
Australia’s only silicon manufacturer, Simcoa Operations, will receive a $39.8 million grant under the federal government’s Powering the Regions Fund to expand the use of charcoal and end the use of coal in its production. According to a statement from energy minister Chris Bowen on Thursday, the move will reduce Simcoa’s greenhouse emissions by 89…
Perth-based R&D company Liquim, which specialises in “natural-origin and plant-based consumer applications”, has developed biodegradable microfilm PPE gloves that they claim are “set to transform hand protection across industries”. In a statement from the company on Wednesday, the company described their “liquid glove” as an answer to landfill waste, and based on a “plant-based hydrogel”…
The NSW government has launched a pilot program budgeted at $800,000, providing lean manufacturing audits to regional SME (between 20 and 200 full-time employees) companies. The Lean Manufacturing Pilot Program opened on Thursday and will accept applications until March 31 at 4 pm. According to the program info on the NSW government’s website the pilot…
ASX-listed brain scanner company EMVision has announced that its First Responder Proof-of-Concept (PoC) device has been put through a series of volunteer scans in remote settings, in collaboration with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and the Australian Stroke Alliance. In a statement on Wednesday, the company shared that RFDS staff had received preliminary training…
The Western Australian government has made a major cabinet reshuffle after being returned at the March 8 election, with former health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson (pictured) overseeing a newly-made manufacturing portfolio. In a statement on Tuesday, premier Roger Cook said the new portfolios – including manufacturing, health infrastructure, preventative health, and aged care and seniors –…
The venture capital sector must shift focus from headline valuations and funding rounds to long-term economic contributions, including profitability, job creation, export potential, and flow on investment, argues John H Howard. Here he looks at the growth of VC in Australia, its appeal to policymakers, journalists and others, and calls for a balanced appreciation of…
Round 26 CRC information session on March 26 A special information session is being held by Cooperative Research Australia for those bidding or considering bidding for a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC.) Hosted in collaboration with the federal Department of Industry, Science, and Resources, the session comes ahead of Round 26 of CRC grants (closing on…
