the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has backed a plan by Queensland Nitrates (QNP) to study the feasibility of building a renewable ammonia plant at its existing facility near Moura in Central Queensland. A consortium of QNP, Neoen and Worley plans to produce 20,000 tonnes per year of ammonia from 3,600 tonnes of renewable hydrogen.…
Southern Launch which is developing the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia has signed up its first rocket launch customer. Southern Launch signed an agreement today at an international space conference in Adelaide with Perigee Aerospace of Daejeon, South Korea. Perigee is developing the Blue Whale micro launch vehicle, which…
Australian seeds and crop protection specialist Nufarm (ASX: NFM) today announced it had sold its South American operations to Sumitomo Chemical for $1.9 billion. The company sold its businesses in Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Chile and will continue to supply the operations under an agreement wth the Japanese global group. The sale represented a multiple…
A company developing Australia’s first energy storage solution based on compressing air is on the way to achieving its second contract following a grant from the New South Wales government. Hydrostor Australia has won a share of $7 million in feasibility grants announced in the lead-up to the closure of the Liddell coal-fired power plant…
By Stuart Corner Australian startup Forcite that has developed a smart motorcycle helmet — originally for police motorcycle riders – is taking the product to the United States. This follows what the company says has been overwhelming demand for the product since its launch earlier this year. Forcite’s MK1 helmet (pictured) incorporates a high definition…
Comment by Peter Roberts A former South Australian Liberal party leader who later became a minister in the state Labor government has called for the establishment of a national shipbuilding authority to guide naval ship construction. Martin Hamilton-Smith’s political history is indeed as complex as the task now facing Australia to build and then sustain…
Tasmanian mining equipment manufacturer Elphinstone has made a remarkable comeback as an OEM manufacturer to the global Caterpillar group. The Burnie company, which employs 2,500, first shot to prominence when it modified Caterpillar surface equipment to operate underground. Eventually it grew into a 50: 50 joint venture with Caterpillar, designing and making underground load, haul,…
We all love to love Australia’s successful value-adding wine making industry, but it seems all is not bliss on the nation’s vineyards. A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission just released warns of power imbalances in the grape supply chain being exploited by some wine makers. The ACCC looked at competition, contracting practices,…
By Stuart Corner of IoT Australia GSMA Global mobile industry body, GSMA says its APAC IoT partnership programme has doubled in size in less than a year, to more than thirty mobile operators, making it the largest cross-regional IoT community in the world. The programme, launched in October 2018, brings operators, developers, manufacturers and system…
Biotechnology giant CSL (ASX: CSL) is set to expand its portfolio of vaccines with a company-backed start up raising $14 million in capital, mostly from a federal government fund. Denteric Pty Ltd raised the cash from Canberra’s Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) and private investors to develop a vaccine against dental caries. The vaccine, which will…
