By Anya Phelan, The University of Queensland This week the federal government joined an international agreement to recycle or reuse 100% of plastic waste by 2040, putting an end to plastic pollution. But major obstacles stand in the way. The most recent is the collapse of Australia’s largest soft plastic recycling program, REDcycle. The program…
By Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he’ll have a system in place to deal with rising energy prices by Christmas. He can’t yet tell us what it will be, because that will depend on the outcome of negotiations with gas and electricity companies, and possibly on…
We sometimes speak to startups and even established companies who are pleasantly surprised by what can get made in-country, if you know where to look. While this website celebrates just about every company manufacturing in Australia, we acknowledge that production for a long list of things — as our current semiconductor series is detailing, or…
By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University; Anna Nadolny, Australian National University, and Ryan Stocks, Australian National University In eight years, Australia wants to be four-fifths powered by renewables. Solar and wind investment is pouring in. But to firm the renewables and overcome the intermittency, we need overnight energy storage. That’s why there’s so much interest…
By Kurtis Eichler With its 2023 launch announced by the South Australian government, here’s a look inside the Kanyini CubeSat. It’s the multi-million-dollar satellite that will collect invaluable data from space once it takes off into the cosmos. But the pieces of the puzzle that make up the $6.5 million CubeSat mission, dubbed Kanyini, have…
By Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Australia’s top economists have overwhelmingly endorsed intervention to restrain gas and electricity prices, with only three of the 47 leading economists surveyed believing the best thing the government can do is to leave things to the market. The 47 economists surveyed are members of…
Kite Magnetics recently completed an $1.85 million seed round and hopes to be the Rolls-Royce of e-aviation. Brent Balinski spoke to co-founder Dr Richard Parsons. Occasionally you have a conversation that reminds you that things are an awful lot better than they used to be. For me I had such a conversation a few weeks…
By William Poole Swinburne University of Technology’s Factory of the Future was the site for Markforged’s Australian launch of the FX20, its groundbreaking new composite 3D printer, on October 25. The function marked the start of a nationwide roadshow for the FX20, with Markforged staging additional events in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The Factory of…
“A better future for Australia must mean a future made in Australia,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at the launch of the latest budget. The 2022 budget delivered a series of wins for Australian industry, targeting the creation of a better foundation for future STEM students, a commitment to cleaner and cheaper energy, and an eye…
Science and future students will be major winners under the new 2022 budget, as the government focuses on building Australia’s future STEM and manufacturing capabilities, however, support for research has fallen short. Federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, said the Albanese Government has a goal of rebuilding manufacturing capacity, in part by widening…