5 hours agoHannah Ritchie,BBC News, Sydney BBCHidden among thick bushland in the outer suburbs of southern Sydney sits an expansive facility housing a technological breakthrough.It’s here that Australian company SunDrive Solar makes its “special sauce”: a new – top secret – formula that it says has solved “a very high value problem”.Its big innovation? Finding a way to replace the silver used in solar cells with copper, which was previously thought impossible.“Silver is expensive, scarce and environmentally disastrous, and it limits how much solar can be rolled out around the world,” explains chief commercial officer Maia Schweizer.“Copper is also highly in demand, but it’s 1,000 times more abundant, and 100 times lower cost.”The start-up is one of the beneficiaries of the government’s Future Made in Australia plan – a suite of policies that aim to turn the country into a “renewable energy superpower” by investing in homegrown green industries.But some experts question whether the $A22.7bn ($15bn; £11.8bn) package, which comprises tax incentives, loans, and kick-starter grants – is enough to meet those lofty ambitions.And climate scientists say that if Australia wants to be a major player in the net zero transition, it needs to stop peddling fossil fuels.Australia’s economy has long been powered by its natural resources, such as coal, gas and iron ore.But its critical minerals – many of which underpin crucial low emissions technologies – are exported raw, and refined abroad, predominantly by China.It’s a dig-and-ship model of trade that has earned Australia a reputation as the world’s quarry, and seen it lose out on a significant chunk of change further up the supply chain.Lithium – which is used in the batteries that store renewable energy and power electric vehicles – is one example.Despite being responsible for more than half of the world’s supply, Australia captures just 0.5% of the global $57bn lithium battery market, according to the country’s national science agency.The Future Made in Australia policy – which was formally announced in April – seeks to change that, by offering tax breaks and loans to companies seeking to process critical minerals at home.Doing so, the government argues, is a national security priority, as countries examine their trade dependence on Beijing, and look to insulate themselves against supply chain shocks.“This is not old-fashioned protectionism or isolationism – it is the new competition,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, when announcing the plan.“We need to aim high, be bold, and build big, to match the size of the opportunity in front of us.”Alpha HPAQueensland-based Alpha HPA is one of the companies the government has tapped to execute its vision.Like SunDrive, it views itself as a disruptor, due to its ability to create ultra-high purity aluminium products – used in things like semiconductors and iPhones – with a lower carbon footprint than overseas competitors.Thanks to a A$400m federal loan, it is building one of the world’s largest alumina refineries near the coastal city of Gladstone, which it says will create hundreds of local jobs.It’s a huge source of pride, given that there is still scepticism over whether Australia can make things, after decades of outsourcing its manufacturing to China, Alpha HPA’s chief operating officer Rob Williamson says.“Anybody that puts forward the case that we don’t have people in this country to do [this work] is just not trying,” he adds.SunDrive is on a similar journey.Without government support, Ms Schweizer says, the company might have moved offshore.Instead, it’s looking to transform one of the country’s oldest coal power stations …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn5 hours agoHannah Ritchie,BBC News, Sydney BBCHidden among thick bushland in the outer suburbs of southern Sydney sits an expansive facility housing a technological breakthrough.It’s here that Australian company SunDrive Solar makes its “special sauce”: a new – top secret – formula that it says has solved “a very high value problem”.Its big innovation? Finding a way to replace the silver used in solar cells with copper, which was previously thought impossible.“Silver is expensive, scarce and environmentally disastrous, and it limits how much solar can be rolled out around the world,” explains chief commercial officer Maia Schweizer.“Copper is also highly in demand, but it’s 1,000 times more abundant, and 100 times lower cost.”The start-up is one of the beneficiaries of the government’s Future Made in Australia plan – a suite of policies that aim to turn the country into a “renewable energy superpower” by investing in homegrown green industries.But some experts question whether the $A22.7bn ($15bn; £11.8bn) package, which comprises tax incentives, loans, and kick-starter grants – is enough to meet those lofty ambitions.And climate scientists say that if Australia wants to be a major player in the net zero transition, it needs to stop peddling fossil fuels.Australia’s economy has long been powered by its natural resources, such as coal, gas and iron ore.But its critical minerals – many of which underpin crucial low emissions technologies – are exported raw, and refined abroad, predominantly by China.It’s a dig-and-ship model of trade that has earned Australia a reputation as the world’s quarry, and seen it lose out on a significant chunk of change further up the supply chain.Lithium – which is used in the batteries that store renewable energy and power electric vehicles – is one example.Despite being responsible for more than half of the world’s supply, Australia captures just 0.5% of the global $57bn lithium battery market, according to the country’s national science agency.The Future Made in Australia policy – which was formally announced in April – seeks to change that, by offering tax breaks and loans to companies seeking to process critical minerals at home.Doing so, the government argues, is a national security priority, as countries examine their trade dependence on Beijing, and look to insulate themselves against supply chain shocks.“This is not old-fashioned protectionism or isolationism – it is the new competition,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, when announcing the plan.“We need to aim high, be bold, and build big, to match the size of the opportunity in front of us.”Alpha HPAQueensland-based Alpha HPA is one of the companies the government has tapped to execute its vision.Like SunDrive, it views itself as a disruptor, due to its ability to create ultra-high purity aluminium products – used in things like semiconductors and iPhones – with a lower carbon footprint than overseas competitors.Thanks to a A$400m federal loan, it is building one of the world’s largest alumina refineries near the coastal city of Gladstone, which it says will create hundreds of local jobs.It’s a huge source of pride, given that there is still scepticism over whether Australia can make things, after decades of outsourcing its manufacturing to China, Alpha HPA’s chief operating officer Rob Williamson says.“Anybody that puts forward the case that we don’t have people in this country to do [this work] is just not trying,” he adds.SunDrive is on a similar journey.Without government support, Ms Schweizer says, the company might have moved offshore.Instead, it’s looking to transform one of the country’s oldest coal power stations …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
