By Peter Roberts Fortescue plans to make a final investment decision in December on its ambitious plans for large scale hydrogen electrolysers to be sited at Incitec Pivot’s Gibson Island plant in Brisbane. The company issued a statement that US supplier Plug Power was preferred supplier for the proposed 550 MW (megawatt) PEM (proton-exchange membrane)…
Timberlink subsidiary NeXTimber has pressed its first Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panel at its facility at Tarpeena in South Australia. According to the company, this marks another significant milestone in the construction of Australia’s first combined CLT and GLT (Cross Laminated Timber and Glue Laminated Timber) radiata pine mass timber facility. The newly commissioned CLT…
Queensland Parliament has passed legislation that will enable renewable hydrogen and gases to be piped safely across Queensland and exported to global trade partners, joining South Australia in passing specialist legislation supporting the hydrogen economy. Last month South Australia’s Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Bill 2023 for an Act was passed which facilitates and regulates the…
Defence manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has launched a new weapon system that combines lasers and machine guns and cannon to detect and destroy hostile drones in the battlefield. The company has previously demonstrated a combination of directed energy (laser) and 30mm cannon systems at its Canberra test facility (pictured). However EOS Defense Systems USA has…
Former coalition minister for defence industry Christopher Pyne has revealed his dismay at the closure of the car industry which came after a challenge from then Treasurer Joe Hockey for GM Holden to leave the country. Pyne did not express misgivings publicly at the time, but according to an interview in the website of the…
Brain imaging technology company EMVision Medical Devices has announced promising clinical trial results from a patient study of its haemorrhagic stroke detection algorithm. The algorithm, dubbed ‘blood or not’, is a critical part of the microwave imaging system the company is developing under a grant from the Australian Stroke Alliance, to be fitted to point…
Perth mining equipment manufacturer Austin Engineering has received a US$20 million grant and loan package which will support the rebuilding and expansion of its US production facility at Casper, Wyoming. Together with a further US5 million investment by the company, the new facility will be its biggest-ever expansion and follows investment in facilities in Perth,…
By Peter Roberts Australian economists have long been seen by manufacturers as the enemy as, led by those staffing the Productivity Commission, they have vigorously fought against any form of activist industry policy by government. The view is that policing backing even new industry such as green energy technologies, 3D printing or critical metals processing…
Geelong Victoria large tank manufacturer Brockman is hoping to utilise its Geelong connections to build on its sophisticated welding skills to move into the defence realm building the kind of tanks that feature on the battlefield in Ukraine. Founded in 1922, Brockman is known for its bespoke bulk water and fuel storage tanks — some…
Infection control and dental manufacturer Dentalife has tripled in size over three years and is using collaboration as the catalyst to scaleup even further. Here Brett Henderson profiles the company, and how collaboration in business works. Dentalife is a 25-year-old family business under second generation management that manufactures infection control products and dental materials in…
