Swinburne takes hydrogen to the skies

Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology has successfully completed the first flight of an Australian-developed hydrogen fuel cell electric powered VTOL drone. The flight occurring last week in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley was the first of its type in Australia. This flight was the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), hydrogen-powered uncrewed aerial system (UAS) flight.…

Pushing water uphill: Snowy 2.0 was a bad idea from the start. Let’s not make the same mistake again

By Bruce Mountain, Victoria University Last night ABC’s Four Corners investigated the problem-plagued Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro power station, focusing on a bogged tunnelling machine, toxic gas and an unexpected volume of sludge. While these specific problems are new, we have criticised this project since 2019 and outlined six key problems even earlier elsewhere. How…

Lessons from the global move to decarbonise industry part 1 – by Cori Stewart

Cori Stewart and a group of eminent Australians have just returned from Europe and the Middle East, discussing growing manufacturing in a fast decarbonising world, and accelerating Industry 4.0 adoption. In the first part of a two-part series, she shares insights into the implications of EU decarbonisation, and the growth of manufacturing hubs in Belgium.…

Why Australia urgently needs a climate plan and a Net Zero National Cabinet Committee to implement it

By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute Australia has a legislated target to reduce greenhouse emissions, a federal government with commitments to increase the share of renewable electricity and reduce power prices, and a globally important economic opportunity at its feet. In the second half of the government’s current term, delivery looks hard across the board. All…

Best of the week — the five most popular stories among @AuManufacturing’s readers, October 2 – 6, 2023

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading. 5) Australian Precision Technologies wins missile contract Precision engineering manufacturer Australian Precision Technologies (APT) has received a contract from Kongsberg Defence Australia to manufacture components for the KONGSBERG Naval Strike Missile (NSM) Launchers to be delivered under Project…