The recent bushfires in eastern Australia have caused terrible destruction and loss of life. The infernos raging on our television screens night after night were frightening. Unfortunately, their occurrence in a major heatwave was invariably presented as proof of climate change, rather than as proof that we need more effective fire-mitigation policies. In the immediate…
Waste-to-energy technology holds out much promise both as a clean way to produce energy and as a useful way to dispose of waste that would otherwise go to landfill. At least, that is so in the case of municipal solid waste. What of the case of agricultural waste? The 80 per cent Australian-owned AgBioEn has…
High prices of electricity coupled with unreliability of supply have cast doubt on the future of two of Australia’s largest aluminium smelters, Portland and Tomago (Newcastle), which convert alumina into the high-value metal aluminium. Aluminium smelters require vast quantities of electricity to reduce aluminium oxide to molten aluminium metal by electrolysis. Alcoa’s Portland smelter was…
Late in 2019 the Coalition Government set up a loan scheme for drought-affected farmers under the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC), yet drought-stricken farmers face waiting times of up to a year. The scheme is appropriately generous with no application or exit fees, two years’ interest free, then three years’ interest only. Loans of up to…
