Australian innovation has to be about more than start-ups and tech

There is absolutely no doubt that the global economy is more competitive than ever, and for Australia to remain productive and prosperous it is vital for business to continue to change and evolve. But when we talk about “innovation”, what exactly do we mean? Put simply, it’s about challenging the norm and doing things differently. It’s not only coming up with new products and services, but improving on what we already do and make. Innovation isn’t something that only applies to start-ups or tech companies. It applies right across the economy, to both established and new businesses. Innovation matters as much to …

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Is It Time We Upgrade Our Energy Network?

Australia is an exciting place to be right now – changes that previously took 25 years to happen are now happening in five years, and with a customer-led shift in the utility sector to a market in terms with transition. In response, we must find ways to coordinate all the complexity in the market. On the generation side and on the low side, the grids are the glue behind it all. We need grid extension, transitional lines for power transfer, and examples of reinforcement of our distribution grids with a lot of the centralised generations embedded. Increased efficiency in our …

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Farmer working to make teff the next big thing in ancient grains

Ancient grains have found a place as part of the modern diet, with options like quinoa becoming common on supermarket shelves and cafe menus. But a southern New South Wales farmer is hoping Australian consumers will develop a taste for another ancient grain: teff. Wakool farmer Fraser McNaul is growing the crop and working on a system to package and market the product from paddock to plate. He said he believed consumers would be excited by the grain, if they could be informed about what it was. “Teff is an ancient grain from Ethiopia, it’s gluten free and its main …

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Consumers are demanding sustainable business practices

Sustainability is top of the agenda for consumer goods companies as customer attitudes evolve. Business has a key role to play in meeting global carbon agreements through sustainable practices throughout the entire value chain. Climate change is not just a risk for the energy industry or heavy polluters but consumer goods industries as well. Despite this, research shows consumers do not have much faith in big business playing their role. How can companies convince the public their intentions are genuine? There are three basic principles to consider. Resource efficiency Resource efficiency is a win-win scenario. Companies can cut costs and …

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Compost could be harnessed for clean energy production

A 2015 Churchill Fellowship recipient says his research has shown there is huge potential to generate clean energy from compost. Gippsland Water agribusiness manager Jono Craven has just completed his fellowship report, titled ‘The Investigation of Effective Recycling of Urban and Agricultural Waste to Provide Positive Outcomes for Agriculture’. Mr Craven said he adopted the topic to try and work out how to get better agricultural results out of compost. He travelled to Israel, the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the US and Canada to research best practice compost production. “Before I left I saw varying results through the use …

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Investors keen to back Western Australia’s largest solar farm

The company behind a proposed $160 million solar farm in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt says it has been spoilt for choice when it comes to investors. Sun Brilliance Power plans to start building a 100 megawatt solar farm, the largest in Western Australia, early next year and will be finalising financial agreements at the end of October. What was originally designed as a 25 megawatt facility has been expanded four-fold after the company purchased what it described as an ideal location two kilometres east of Cunderdin in May this year. Spokesman for the company, Ray Wills said it would be the …

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Anne-Marie Birkill, Partner in OneVentures to join us in March 2017

The National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held the Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane from the 23-24 March 2017. The National Sustainability in Business Conference theme ‘Renewables – Markets – Innovation – Opportunities – Capital’ will address the need for sustainable business practices, and what this means in today’s ever-changing world. Anne-Marie Birkill is a Partner in OneVentures, a $175M venture capital firm that invests in technology companies that serve or disrupt large, high growth global markets. She is Chair of the Board for portfolio companies Charm Health and Find-me technologies. Her previous roles include CEO of i.lab Incubator, various …

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Renewable Energy In Cities – IRENA Report

Making up 65 per cent of global energy use and 70 per cent of anthropogenic carbon emissions, cities must play a crucial role in the shift to a low-carbon economy says IRENA. A new report from IRENA focuses on best practice gleaned from thousands of cities around the world making up 60% of global energy demand, demonstrates what is possible and details the sorts of policies required to enable the change. “We have to rethink the entire urban energy landscape, which requires rigorous planning and holistic decision-making,” said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General “Renewable energy, combined with energy efficiency, will …

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Introducing Peta Ellis, CEO River City Labs.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held the Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane from the 23-24 March 2017. The National Sustainability in Business Conference theme ‘Renewables – Markets – Innovation – Opportunities – Capital’ will address the need for sustainable business practices, and what this means in today’s ever-changing world. Joining us at the National Sustainability in Business Conference is Peta Ellis, a Communications Professional with 16+ years’ experience in Marketing Communications, Media Relations, Publicity, Social Media Marketing and Public Profile Management. Since 2012 Peta has worked alongside Steve Baxter, the founder of River City Labs to grow Brisbane’s …

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The gas industry needs a carbon price to compete with coal

Putting a price on carbon would benefit the Australian gas industry, at least in the short term. It is therefore in the interests of gas producers to lobby for the emissions trading scheme proposed for the electricity industry by the Climate Change Authority. At first a sight this might seem a paradoxical suggestion. Isn’t carbon pricing meant to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels after all? But with gas prices high, coal-fired generation has been increasing. Coal produces about twice as much carbon dioxide as gas when it is used to generate electricity. This is bad news for our emissions, …

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