Xefco raises $10m for sustainable textile technologies

Textile technology developer Xefco has raised $10.5 million in its latest funding round led by Australian deep technology fund Main Sequence Ventures backing its technology to reduce textile emissions. Xefco has been commercialising its patented water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora, aiming to create a greener supply chain for the fashion industry. Other new…

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Towards 3% R&D – Why business innovation is faltering by Dr John Howard

Faltering business expenditure on R&D is a major factor in Australia’s poor innovation performance. Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Dr John Howard identifies businesses’ failings. This is an edited excerpt (full paper link below). From 1981 to 1995, Australian businesses made steady progress in lifting…

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‘Invisible’ consultants help companies write sustainability reports. Here’s why that’s a problem

By Hendri Yulius Wijaya, The University of Melbourne and Kate Macdonald, The University of Melbourne Around the world, more and more companies are publishing sustainability reports – public scorecards detailing their impacts on society and the environment. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports outline the positive and negative effects of a company’s activities, and the…

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Sydney haem team makes nanowires out of modified protein filaments, suggesting possibility of ‘green electronics’

University of NSW Sydney researchers have assembled “protein nanowires” created by engineered bacteria and found that these were able to conduct electricity over short distances and even create it out of thin air. According to a statement from UNSW on Monday, the team used protein filaments created by E. coli (a bacteria that can cause…

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Towards 3% R&D – Australia’s climate opportunity by Dr Katherine Woodthorpe

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Katherine Woodthorpe looks at the potential of innovation in low emission products for export. She argues investing in innovation and STEM skills has economic returns. In the fight against climate change, Australia and the world are at a crossroads. The…

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Towards 3% R&D – Tax incentive is alive and kicking by Kris Gale

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – we turn to the main support mechanism available for innovation – the R&D Tax Incentive. By Kris Gale. In Minister Husic’s 3% R&D drive to survive, one constant refrain in the Government’s innovation support story is the need to make…

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New $18.4 million Australian Centre for Quantum Growth

The federal government has selected the University of Sydney’s Quantum Australia to establish and run a new $18.4 million Australian Centre for Quantum Growth, according to Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic. Promised in the government’s National Quantum Strategy, the centre will build connections across Australia’s booming quantum community. Husic took to social media and…

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Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, April 22 – 26, 2024

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Boeing and Wagner join to manufacture and utilise sustainable aviation fuels Australian infrastructure, property development and investment management company Wagner has joined with Boeing to grow the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry to help meet Australia’s airline demand…

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