According to The Australian Financial Review, West Australian business wants the Albanese government to give carbon capture technology the same attention as green hydrogen, warning a lack of political will is jeopardising development of an industry critical to the state’s downstream processing ambitions.
The Cook Labor government wants to market WA as “the perfect place” for Asia to store its carbon emissions, but local industry is frustrated that Canberra reluctance to champion the technology is stifling an opportunity worth billions of dollars to the state. https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/wa-urges-albanese-to-back-carbon-storage-20240819-p5k3h3
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According to The Australian Financial Review, house sellers nationwide pocketed $326,000 gross profit on average in the past financial year, the largest windfall on record, bolstered by robust increases in values despite higher interest rates, Domain’s Profit and Loss report shows.
The proportion of profitable house sales also ballooned across the country, rising to 96 per cent, the highest level in 16 years, while the share of units selling for a profit jumped to a 13-year high of 90.7 per cent. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/the-suburbs-where-every-seller-pocketed-1m-profit-20240820-p5k3rg
According to The Asahi Shimbun, as the quality of rice across Japan has been devastated by the intense heat of recent summers, the agricultural industry is increasingly turning toward heat-resistant rice varieties.
When rice is exposed to high temperatures during the summer ripening period, its quality deteriorates greatly—along with the financial stability of many farmers. But heat-tolerant cultivars are less likely to be damaged and may offer a lifeline. According to Niigata prefectural officials, the heat-tolerant “Shinnosuke” variety developed by the prefectural government was grown on 5,300 hectares this year, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year. Although it takes more time and effort to grow the variety, 94.7 percent of Shinnosuke harvested (as of 31 Dec 2023) was ranked first-grade quality, even though last summer was extremely hot. For that reason, the agricultural cooperative society is encouraging farmers to grow it. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15368480
According to The Jiji News, Panasonic Holdings Corp. is considering building electric vehicle battery factories in Japan for supply to Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
Currently, Panasonic supplies almost all of its EV batteries to Tesla Inc. The Japanese company aims to expand its domestic battery business as EV demand in North America slows. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/34978
According to The Australian Financial Review, Japanese giant Nippon Steel says the Queensland government’s coal royalties grab influenced its decision to spend $1 billion buying a stake in Whitehaven’s Blackwater coking coal mine, amid rising concerns over supply security.
Nippon Steel and Japanese company JFE Steel collectively bought 30 per cent of Blackwater in a deal disclosed on Thursday, giving owner Whitehaven Coal a $US1.1 billion ($1.6 billion) cash injection. In rare public comments, Nippon Steel said the Queensland government’s decision to raise coal royalty rates in 2022 would “certainly” decrease the supply of coking coal long term by discouraging investment in new mines. The steel maker said fears of a future supply shortage had given it “a strong sense of urgency” to own more of the coal mines that feed its mills. https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/japan-s-urgent-1-6b-mine-purchase-driven-by-qld-coal-royalties-20240821-p5k4at
According to The Australian Financial Review, environmental approval processes are obstructing critical renewable energy infrastructure needed to develop a lucrative green steel industry in Western Australia’s resource-rich Pilbara, experts warn.
A Climate Energy Finance report estimates Australia has the potential to double its iron export value to $250 billion by producing green iron, but not if it loses out to international competitors because governments and industry fail to develop the sector. https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/slow-approvals-are-risking-the-next-mining-boom-report-20240812-p5k1o3
According to The Australian Financial Review, NEX Building Group, the largest residential builder in NSW, has urged the competition regulator to approve Stockland’s purchase of a $1.3 billion housing estate portfolio from Lendlease, saying delays in the deal announced last year were keeping much-needed land out of the housing market.
NEX, majority owned by Asahi Kasei Homes, also said in a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that Stockland was better at bringing residential land to market than Lendlease as its business model required it to continually develop and sell housing lots. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/nsw-builder-nex-wants-1-3b-stockland-lendlease-to-go-ahead-20240812-p5k1u9
According to The Jiji News, Japanese electronics and other companies are rushing to develop technologies to detect false information generated by artificial intelligence, as AI hallucinations have become a social issue around the world.
Hitachi Ltd. has developed technology to determine whether a sentence was created by AI by using some words as watermarks, like those on bank notes. The technology's accuracy will improve with more sets of words. It is available in various languages including programming language. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/34875
According to The Jiji News, to combat this summer's heat waves both day and night, Japanese companies are encouraging people to utilize products and services aimed at helping them avoid getting heatstroke while sleeping.
Clothing maker Gunze Ltd. released pajamas in its perspiration-wicking product series "Asedoron" in April. The cool pajamas are made from a mixture of rayon and polyester, which are hygroscopic and dry quickly. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/34898
According to The Australian Financial Review, a reinvigorated AGL Energy has flagged a smaller-than-expected drop in earnings this coming year and announced $250 million of battery and solar acquisitions as it seeks to accelerate its build-out of clean energy and prepare for the exit of coal power.
Betashares responsible investments director Greg Liddell said the acquisitions of battery developer Firm Power and solar farm developer Terrain Solar “shows the transition to clean energy will create a range of opportunities across the energy sector”. The acquisitions will boost AGL’s pipeline for potential projects by 8.1 gigawatts of capacity, with the most promising projects in Queensland and NSW. It will help AGL towards its target to deliver 12GW of new clean energy supply – split roughly equally between renewables and firming – by 2036. https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/resurgent-agl-sprints-into-the-black-as-profits-surge-20240809-p5k151 |
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