The Australian government used to publish a Business R&D Investment Scorecard, providing insight into how companies are investing in their future. Here John H Howard, Victor Pantano and Cameron Begley produce their own scorecard – which suggests fewer Australian companies are bothering with R&D. R&D scorecards are vital tools for policymakers. They provide essential data…
Silicon energy storage company 1414 Degrees has signed a term sheet that will see its Aurora Energy Precinct at Port Augusta in South Australia access the ElectraNet 275kV Hill-to-Hill power line connecting to the National Electricity Market. The company’s 50 percent owned joint venture with Vast Renewables, SiliconAurora Pty Ltd signed a term sheet with…
The ELO2 Consortium’s pioneering lunar rover prototype, the result of Australian ingenuity in remote operations of mining equipment and aspirations in space, was unveilled in Adelaide today and could be on the way to the Moon courtesy of a NASA mission. The prototype, to be named Roo-ver, is one of two being developed by different…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading. 5) Toyota Australia assembles first hydrogen-powered generator at Altona Toyota Australia has announced that mining services company Thiess will take delivery of the first locally-assembled EODev GEH2 hydrogen fuel cell stationary power generator. The announcement was made on…
By Peter Roberts BHP might just be getting serious about fully exploiting its ability to refine and export copper on a large scale from its South Australian copper mines – however the company has considered major expansions previously and baulked at the cost. In 2012 BHP halted plans for a $30 billion expansion of its…
The South Australian government and the private sector have funded studies, planning and negotiations to lead to a final investment decision on the Northern Water project servicing BHP’s copper mines and refineries and the burgeoning green hydrogen and steel industries. If progressed, Northern Water would see construction of a 260 megalitre a day desalination plant…
By Mohan Yellishetty, Monash University Australia’s nickel industry has been granted access to billions of dollars in federal funding as well as relief from royalty payments after a collapse in the global price of nickel that threatens thousands of jobs. On Thursday BHP wrote down the value of its West Australian nickel division Nickel West…
Low emission industrial technologies developer Calix has completed a front end engineering and design (FEED) study which found the company’s near zero emission ZESTY process was cost competitive with traditional high emissions iron making. Calix told investors that the study for a 30,000 tonne per annum Zero Emission Steel Technology (ZESTY) Hydrogen Direct Reduced Iron…
BlueScope Steel and iron ore producers BHP and Rio Tinto have entered a partnership that could see the construction of a low emission Electric Smelting Facility (ESF) pilot plant which could cut carbon emissions in the steelmaking process by 80 percent. The ESF is capable of producing iron suitable for the basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS)…
The consortium behind Australia’s first lunar rover, ELO2 is inviting space enthusiasts to design a system to collect soil from the Moon and deposit it at a NASA run facility in a competition running into next year. The ELO2 Big Dipper Regolith Acquisition Challenge is seeking from creators to seasoned engineers to contribute to identifying…