The Queensland government has taken an important step towards establishing Queensland’s credentials as a leading generator of renewable energy jobs, in partnering with the Smart Energy Council’s Zero-Carbon Certification Scheme. 

The federal government has reappointed Darren Miller as chief executive officer of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for a further three years. 

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will provide $2 million for ClimateWorks Australia, a non-profit decarbonisation advisory, to accelerate the development and deployment of low emissions technologies. 

The northeast town of Yackandandah in Victoria has officially opened its new Totally Renewable Yackandandah’s Community Battery and the Twist Creek Microgrid. 

The federal government has appointed Professor Alexander McBratney to the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) for a period of three years.  

Researchers at the University of Queensland have engineered a carbon-based material that could spawn the next generation of electronics, with more memory, speed and advanced features. 

Victoria’s Department of Health, Melbourne Water, Water Research Australia and other industry partners have partnered with Monash University to track traces of COVID-19 in wastewater with “torpedo” passive samplers. 

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, will deliver the $5 million Hydrogen RD&D International Collaboration Program backed by the federal government, aimed at advancing Australia’s clean hydrogen industry. 

Gas and engineering company BOC, a subsidiary of Linde plc, has announced a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy from waste facility Avertas Energy and Shell Energy, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per cent. 

The Carbon Market Institute, independent industry association, has announced Australia’s world-first Australian Carbon Industry Code of Conduct is now fully operational. 

The federal government has released a draft carbon capture and storage (CCS) method for the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), for public consultation. Accelerating CCS commercial deployment and uptake will help reduce Australia’s emissions and protect industries and jobs.  CCS is one of five priority methods being developed in 2021 under the ERF and it is a priority area … Continue reading CCS projects unlocked under Emissions Reduction Fund →

RMIT University researchers have developed smart wound dressings with built-in nanosensors which glow to alert patients when a wound is not healing properly.  The multifunctional, antimicrobial dressings feature fluorescent sensors that glow brightly under UV light if infection starts to set in and can be used to monitor healing progress.    The smart dressings harness the powerful antibacterial … Continue reading Smart wound dressings with healing sensors developed by RMIT →

Monash University researchers have developed a fast, cheap tape-paper sensor test to detect bilirubin in jaundiced newborns, which could be commercialised for point-of-care diagnosis of neonatal jaundice.  The joint development by Monash University’s Faculty of Engineering, the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering and Monash Health, aims to provide results in under 10 minutes at a cost of around 60 cents each.  The small volume of samples … Continue reading Tape-paper sensor test by Monash could detect jaundice in infants →

The Smart Energy Council and Hydrogen Australia have announced Queensland developer HydroREC has become a founding partner in its Zero Carbon Certification Scheme.  “HydroREC puts the smarts into smart energy and renewable hydrogen,” Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes said.  “HydroREC brings together leaders in renewable hydrogen, agribusiness, blockchain and renewable energy project development. It’s fantastic to have them on board.”  “The Zero Carbon … Continue reading HydroREC founding partner in Zero Carbon Certification Scheme →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will provide up to $579,786 in funding to Rio Tinto to support a feasibility study, investigating the potential to partially decarbonise its alumina refining operations using renewable hydrogen.  Conventional alumina refining combusts natural gas to achieve the high temperatures required in the calcination process. Rio Tinto aims to investigate the technical implications of displacing natural … Continue reading Rio Tinto: Replace natural gas with hydrogen in alumina refining →

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), global provider of sustainable energy solutions, has started construction on its first 5 MWac Solar-Storage Hybrid Power Plant in Dalby, Queensland.  The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility will feature 2.4 MWac of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation panels and a 2.5 MWac/5 MWh energy storage system which will be one of the first co-located PV and BESS system greenfield developments … Continue reading FRV to begin its first hybrid solar storage project in Queensland →

Australia and Germany will invest in a series of new initiatives to accelerate the development of a hydrogen industry, through a Declaration of Intent on the Australia-Germany Hydrogen Accord.  This initiative will create new economic opportunities and jobs, while reducing emissions.  The Australia-Germany Hydrogen Accord builds on each government’s respective strengths, with Australia looking to be a major hydrogen exporter. Germany holds expertise in hydrogen technology and plans to import … Continue reading Australia-Germany Hydrogen Accord accelerates hydrogen industry →

CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) have released their annual GenCost Report, stating that solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind continue to be the cheapest sources of new electricity generation capacity in Australia.  This is despite the inclusion of renewables’ integration costs, according to the 2020-21 report.  In consulting with industry stakeholders to estimate the costs of generating electricity for … Continue reading GenCost Report confirms solar and wind cheapest energy sources →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $15 million in funding to RayGen Resources to construct a “solar hydro” power plant, the first of its kind comprising 4MW of solar PV generation and 3MW dispatchable storage capacity in Victoria.  The RayGen “solar hydro” power plant consists of the company’s proprietary PV Ultra, a concentrating photovoltaic solar co-generation tower, combined with its patented electro-thermal storage. The concentrated PV technology generates … Continue reading RayGen receives ARENA funding for first “solar hydro” power plant →

Publicly owned generator Stanwell will partner with Japanese industrial company Iwatani Corporation to develop a three-gigawatt renewable hydrogen facility for large-scale production in Aldoga, central Queensland.  The export-scale facility will generate more than 5,000 jobs for regional Queenslanders, $4.2 billion in hydrogen exports and $10 billion for the state economy.  The announcement follows the launch of the state government’s $1.84B Queensland Jobs Fund, … Continue reading Stanwell and Iwatani to develop 3GW renewable hydrogen facility →