Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Chris Bowen visits China to talk low carbon transmission

The Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will travel to China to represent Australia at the 8th Ministerial on Climate Action (MOCA), taking place on 22-23 July 2024. There he will deliver a keynote address on emissions reduction and the low-carbon transition and meet with with Ministerial counterparts to align global efforts towards the net zero transformation, according to a statement. Bowen said: “China is both Australia’s biggest trading partner and the world’s biggest emitter. Collaboration is crucial to address the challenges of climate change and deliver real outcomes, particularly for the Pacific family”. MOCA convenes climate ministers and senior officials around 40 countries.

SA defence research grants open for applications

Applications are now open for the eighth round of the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF), with grants of up to $150,000 available. The Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) supports collaboration across government, universities and industry as a catalyst for defence-relevant research, development and innovation. To date, the CRF has supported 35 projects, providing more than $3.4 million in financial support from state government, leveraging $10.8million from the Commonwealth, industry, and university contributions.

Renewables funding lines up for Western Australia

The federal and Western Australian governments have signed a Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement and opened registration for the first Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender for the state. The agreement is part of Canberra’s plan to deliver an additional 32 gigawatts of renewable generation and storage in Australia by 2030. Under the agreement, the Albanese Government will underwrite developers to build a minimum 6.5 terawatt hours of new wind and solar projects in WA, as well as 1.1 gigawatts of new storage. This builds on the state’s commitment to retire its state-owned coal-fired power stations by 2030 and replace them with reliable renewable electricity generation and storage

Magnetite Mines develops technology to utilise saline processing water

Magnetite Mines has identified a method to utilise saline water, instead of fresh or desalinated water, for processing ores from its Razorback Iron Ore Project in South Australia. The laboratory testwork programme used a modified chemical reagent regime to produce premium-grade concentrates suitable for Green Iron production, with results similar to those achieved using fresh water. Magnetite ores are suited to direct reduced iron reduction using hydrogen.

Respiri raises cash for US product push

Medical technology company Respiri has received firm commitments to raise $3 million from sophisticated and professional investors. The placement follows recent USA business progress by the company in its respiratory healthcare management and remote patient monitoring systems. The will use the cash raised to fund the accelerated execution of its’ US commercialisation strategy including patient recruitment and onboarding and its differentiating Clinic in Cloud (CiC) services. These are all critical to achieving the company’s goal of breaking even in cashflow by late 2024.

New ARM Hub appointment

The ARM Hub (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) has welcomed Diego Camelo to the role of Graduate Engineer with the Australian Manufacturing Capability Network (AMCN). Camelo holds a PhD in Engineering and a Master’s in Engineering Business Management, as well as over ten years’ experience helping companies enhance their competitiveness and sustainability. Industry projects include with Land Rover Jaguar (UK), Johnson Controls (UK), and Vecol (Colombia). According to the announcement from ARM Hub, Camelo “will bring his expertise in green manufacturing, digital transformation, and open innovation to our small-to-medium manufacturing clients in the Industry Growth Program.” The AMCN was announced as one of four Industry Partner Organisations announced in May, offering “expert, sector-specific advice to support the growth of Australian SMEs” and complementing “the work of the Industry Growth Program Advisers”.

MOU between Pure Hydrogen and Vietnam ASEAN Hydrogen Club

ASX-listed Pure Hydrogen Corporation has announced an MOU with the Vietnam ASEAN Hydrogen Club (VAHC) which could see Pure Hydrogen supply up to five buses and associated hydrogen infrastructure. VAHC is a domestic policy group dedicated to the advancement of hydrogen solutions as part of the Vietnam government’s stated carbon reduction strategy. The MOU stipulates that the vehicles will be used as part of a demonstration of hydrogen vehicles in Ho Chi Minh City, which will be funded by the VAHC in conjunction with the Vietnam Tourism Partners and Industrial Partners. VAHC has expressed interest in “up to three hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) minibuses, and two HFC Coaches,” which would be supplied by Pure Hydrogen and manufactured by Pure Hydrogen subsidiary Hdrive International. The MOU is non-binding “except for a few clauses”.

Alkath Group announces collaboration with UK’s MSubs

Australian defence SME Alkath Group and UK-based MSubs have announced a new collaboration on maritime autonomous systems in the Indo-Pacific region. According to a statement from Alkath on Monday, it paves the way for cost-effective and versatile uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) to be available for a variety of applications, including defence, marine science and commercial offshore survey operations., and comes ahead of the Indian Ocean Defence & Security Conference (IODS) in Perth, where the collaboration will be further discussed. “We aim to provide an innovative chartered autonomous USV service for payload development,” said Alkath Group Managing Director Phil Guy. “Our collaboration allows us to utilise MSubs’ designs and integrate them with our local manufacturing capabilities. Bringing technology proven in the UK and US to Australia is an example of an AUKUS-inspired collaboration that helps meet the AUKUS Pillar Two artificial intelligence, electromagnetic warfare and autonomy capability goals.”

Zip helps bring fresh water to remote school

Zip Water this week announced a successful partnership with SOURCE Global and Rural Aid to deliver fresh water to Goodooga Central School in remote New South Wales. John Doumani, President of Culligan APAC and Zip International, and Louise Crawshaw, the company’s Head of Human Resources, recently attended an event to launch the first Zip Water/Source Hydropanel project, which included ten Source Hydropanels and two Zip Water Chillers. The panels and chillers were installed at the school, 800 kilometres from Sydney in remote NSW, which has 40 children (K-12) and 15 employees. “Thanks to the Hydropanels, Goodooga Central School has access to 18,000 liters of fresh, clean water every year,” said Zip in a statement on Monday. “Using the power of the sun, pure, constantly replenished water vapor is extracted from the air in order to convert it into clean, renewable and durable drinking water on site.” Zip’s Hydropanel uses built-in rotating fans to draw in air and trap it in a water-absorbing material, where sunlight heats the trapped water, causing it to condense and collect in a reservoir. Calcium and magnesium are added to water when it is collected.

TSA marks a decade

The new financial year marks ten years in operation for Tyre Stewardship Australia, the organisation announced this week. According to the product stewardship organisation, industry case studies are showing rubber product users and recyclers “are defying challenging economic times to gain value from tyre recycling.” There are now 16 tyre and auto brands supporting the TSA, it said, helping it invest over $10 million directly into developing markets for tyre-derived materials and research into solutions for end-of-life tyres. “With only 57% of tyre importers and only 3% of auto brands contributing, Australia’s circular tyre  economy has grown from just a few pioneers driving change in 2014 to more mainstream innovation in  2024,” said CEO Lina Goodman. “Just imagine what we could do with 100% contributing to an all-in scheme. Goodman added that mandating government procurement would lift recycling rates, as well as “increase local manufacturing, jobs, and markets, and reduce environmental and social harm,” she said.