According to The Australian Financial Review, El Nino is set to halt a record-breaking run for farmers and cut national wheat production by more than a third, according to the federal government’s agricultural forecaster.
Farm exports are expected to fall by 17 per cent to $65 billion in 2023-24 as the weather phenomenon, which brings with it drier conditions, takes hold. The export and production forecasts, although lower, reflect just how strongly the sector has performed over the past three years, with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) attributing some of that success to now fading La Nina weather patterns. https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/looming-el-nino-spells-end-to-farmers-record-breaking-run-20230605-p5de28
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According to The Australian Financial Review, a lack of certainty about planning outcomes is halting the acquisition and development of sites for new housing, a survey by real estate investment house Wingate has found.
Of the circa 145 developers, private lenders and high net worth investors surveyed by the Melbourne-based firm, almost a third said securing planning approvals was a key development impediment, while over a third said the availability and cost of labour and trades was still a major issue. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/developers-say-lack-of-planning-certainty-holding-back-housing-supply-20230608-p5dezy
According to The Jiji News, publicly traded Japanese companies have been increasingly under pressure from institutional investors and the government to appoint women to their boards of directors.
Many listed companies, including Toray Industries Inc., Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and Workman Co., will seek approval to appoint female board members for the first time at shareholders' meetings this month. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/26737
According to The Kyodo news, the Japanese government decided on a plan to generate 15 trillion yen (USD107 billion) of investment in the supply of hydrogen over the next 15 years from the public and private sectors in a push to increase its use and speed up decarbonization.
Under the revised Basic Hydrogen Strategy, approved at a meeting between relevant ministers, the country also plans to increase its hydrogen supply sixfold from the current level of 2 million tons to around 12 million tons by 2040. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/06/c8162f931ea8-japan-to-invest-15-tril-yen-in-hydrogen-supply-for-decarbonization.html
According to The Australian Financial Review, the Palaszczuk government will commit $14 billion to fund one of Australia’s most expensive renewable energy projects, the Borumba pumped hydro project in south-east Queensland.
It is one of two mega pumped hydro projects the government is relying on to enable it to shut down the state’s five coal-fired power stations by 2035, even though other pumped hydro projects, such as Snowy 2.0 and Genex Power’s Kidston project in North Queensland, have been plagued by cost blow-outs and slow development timelines. https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/qld-to-commit-14b-for-mega-pumped-hydro-project-20230609-p5dfba
According to The Nikkei Asia, Japanese manufacturers such as Toshiba and Toray Industries are developing new technology that produces cheaper "green" hydrogen, part of efforts geared toward promoting the use of the clean-burning fuel.
Green hydrogen, which is made with renewable energy, is typically produced with electrolyzers that break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolyzers that use polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) require electrodes containing iridium, a rare metal. Only about 10 tonnes of iridium is produced globally in a given year, and price of the metal is now 2.5 times that of gold in the face of demand from the green hydrogen industry. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Climate-Change/Toshiba-Toray-lead-Japan-foray-into-cheap-green-hydrogen-tech
According to The Australian Financial Review, inside the 1600 square metre modular home factory in Smithfield, in Sydney’s west, the construction of 18 bespoke homes all at once more resembles car manufacturing than a building site, in what Tahi Merrilees, co-founder of Wild Modular which owns the factory, describes as an “organised chaos”.
Merrilees believes factory-built housing will play a part in solving the country’s worsening housing crisis. “A prefab modular home can be built in just 10 days, so we can get supply out more than twice as fast as the traditional build. We can also build multiple houses at the same time, so we can mass produce housing,” he says. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/the-fast-build-homes-that-could-solve-the-housing-crisis-20230518-p5d9el Toyota debuts hydrogen-fueled Corolla race car as auto racing begins shift away from gas guzzlers7/6/2023
According to The Asahi Shimbun, in a sprawling circuit near Mount Fuji, a humble Corolla running on liquid hydrogen has made its racing debut, part of a move to bring the futuristic technology into the racing world and to demonstrate Toyota’s resolve to develop green vehicles.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda, resplendent in a fire-resistant racing uniform, was all smiles as he prepared to buzz around the circuit in the hydrogen-fueled Corolla. “This is a world first for a liquid hydrogen car to race. We hope it will offer another option in the fight against global warming. To bring everyone smiles, I want to go one lap, even one second, more,” said Toyoda, a former CEO of Toyota, grandson of the automaker’s founder and a licensed race driver himself. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14922315
According to The Jiji News, the Japanese government's Council for Promotion of Regulatory Reform adopted a report calling for legislation to promote the use of medical data, such as electronic clinical records.
In the report, the council positioned medical data as "an indispensable premise for receiving appropriate medical treatment and care." It urged the use of such data to promote the health of citizens and strengthen responses to future infectious disease crises. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/26612
According to The Australian Financial Review, garlic might not just be good for keeping vampires away, but also COVID-19 and the common flu, according to new research being released by The Peter Doherty Institute.
Scientists at Doherty have been researching garlic properties over the past 18 months and have discovered a certain Australian grown garlic variety demonstrates antiviral properties with up to 99.9 per cent efficacy against the viruses which cause COVID-19 and the common flu. https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/health-and-wellness/doherty-finds-garlic-kills-covid-20230530-p5dcgn |
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