According to The Australian Financial Review, the co-founders of Scape Australia, the country’s largest student accommodation provider, are planning one of the country’s biggest build-to-rent developments yet, a $1.5 billion development in Sydney’s inner west.
The Timberyards project in Marrickville will deliver up to 1000 apartments including 100 affordable units when complete. It is the first project for a residential rental fund established by Scape founders Craig Carracher and Stephen Gaitanos, which is targeting 10,000 apartments by 2030. The lack of supply has severely curtailed rental availability, especially in inner-city areas where key workers are most needed. Build-to-rent projects – where one owner develops and controls sizeable apartment blocks earmarked for rental – could potentially contribute a substantial proportion of much-needed housing, analysts say. While high construction costs are also choking supply, delaying even approved housing projects, the federal government’s foreign tax regime is also to blame for the hold-up, according to industry players. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/giant-1-5b-build-to-rent-housing-project-slated-for-marrickville-20241023-p5kkn9
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, Bridgestone, a byword in tire manufacturing, has developed what every car owner dreams of: a tire that doesn’t puncture.
Dubbed Airfree and still in the developmental stage, the tire will not fit all types of vehicles, however. It relies on plastic spokes between the rubber on the tire’s surface and the metal wheel rim. The 1-centimeter-thick spokes are designed to cushion shocks from the road surface in place of a traditional inner air tube. An obvious benefit is that there is no risk of getting a flat, nor need to check on tire air pressure and other maintenance concerns. Initially, Airfree will be aimed at buses and other vehicles that crawl along. Bridgestone Corp. plans to market the tire in 2026. The company envisions the tires being fitted to community buses that many communities, especially in rural areas, operate for residents and tourists. Small electric buses that travel at under 20 kph are also in the company’s sights. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15482201
According to The Asahi Shimbun, sludge generated through sewage treatment is set to be marketed by city officials here as the perfect fertilizer rich in nitrogen and phosphorus.
Nitrogen is an indispensable ingredient to the growth of plants. As for phosphorus, Japan relies mostly on imports, but its prices are continuing to soar. Officials are hoping to market 1,000 tons of sludge-derived fertilizer annually. Sewage sludge is mostly comprised of dead bodies of microorganisms that have ingested and decomposed human waste. Around 20,000 tons of sewage sludge is generated in Nagoya every day. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15438412
According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia has a huge opportunity to be a significant green export player, but leading industrial executives warn the chance will be missed unless the government quickly puts in place the right supports to give companies the confidence to invest.
The general manager of Rio Tinto’s Pacific Renewable Energy unit Vik Selvaraja said it was critical that Australia get the right policy frameworks in place as soon as possible to make goods such as green steel or aluminium before the opportunity is grasped by other countries. Almost half of Rio Tinto’s emissions are generated by the Pacific Aluminium division, which includes fossil fuel-powered aluminium smelters in NSW and Queensland, as well as two fossil fuel-powered alumina refineries near Gladstone. Mr Selvaraja said the government should consider production tax credits to subsidise green aluminium manufacturing. https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/match-overseas-incentives-to-spur-australia-s-green-exports-20241022-p5kk74
According to The Asahi Shimbun, amid the growing threat of false information fueled by the rise of generative artificial intelligence, researchers across Japan with specialized skills are working together to develop countermeasures.
Fujitsu Ltd. said that it is collaborating with universities and research institutes to create a system that verifies the authenticity of online information. The joint project involves nine entities: Fujitsu, the National Institute of Informatics, NEC Corp., Keio University, the Institute of Science Tokyo, the University of Tokyo, the University of Aizu, the Nagoya Institute of Technology and Osaka University. They aim to build the system by fiscal 2025, supported by 6 billion yen (US$40 million) in government funding. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15469232
According to The Australian Financial Review, house prices are expected to rise by around 5 per cent nationally this financial year as would-be buyers cool their heels ahead of much-anticipated rate relief, according to property experts.
The pace of house price is already slowing, down from the 8 per cent growth nationally over the last financial year, as affordability constraints and high borrowing costs take the edge off strong underlying demand, driven by population growth. Prices nationally are up 1 per cent over the September quarter, according to CoreLogic. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said that even though the shortfall in housing supply was underpinning prices broadly, the rate of growth over the next few months would slow as poor affordability, high rates and rising unemployment took their toll. Dr Oliver expects house prices nationally to rise 5 per cent on average this financial year. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/house-price-growth-to-slow-to-5pc-nationally-experts-20241015-p5kikd
According to The Jiji News, Subaru Corp. unveiled a new hybrid system that enables vehicles to travel more than 1,000 kilometers without refueling when the tank is full.
The new system has a fuel efficiency that is about 20 pct higher than existing models thanks to enhanced engine capabilities and a newly developed battery pack. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/36106
According to The Jiji news, Japanese government released a draft report calling for imposing fines on companies that violate rules under the carbon dioxide emission trading system to be fully introduced in fiscal 2026.
The report was presented at a meeting with experts to examine legal issues linked to the CO2 emissions trading system for decarbonization. The report said that companies that fail to achieve emissions reductions and do not buy excess emissions quotas from other companies should be subject to fines. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/36152
According to The Australian Financial Review, owners of Queensland’s lucrative Kestrel coking coal mine say they will put the operation on the market, kick-starting a multibillion-dollar auction and escalating the deal fever that has swept the sector over the past year.
Kestrel is Australia’s sixth-largest coking coal mine, according to analysts at resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, and generated $1.26 billion of cash flow from operations and $474.5 million of net profit in the past two years. The mine in the Bowen Basin is 42 per cent owned by EMR Capital, a private equity firm that specialises in resources, while major Indonesian coal group Adaro holds 38 per cent. The rest is owned by Japan’s Mitsui. They purchased the mine from Rio Tinto in 2018 for $2.9 billion. https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/emr-capital-puts-queensland-s-kestrel-coal-mine-up-for-mega-auction-20241017-p5kj58
According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia’s transition to low-carbon energy has been complicated by a third-straight quarterly increase in coal power generation, buffeted by a smaller contribution from large-scale solar farms as they are edged out of the grid by households.
The figures from the University of NSW confirm the extent of curtailment at solar farms amid soaring rooftop solar generation, with the drop in output from large-scale solar plants detected despite their increased capacity, measured year-on-year. Wholesale power prices increased over the same time frame. Subdued demand for electricity and bumper generation from rooftop panels has regularly forced extraordinary cutbacks in output from large renewable sources witnessed over the past several weeks. Owners of solar and wind farms are compelled to switch off plants to save themselves from losses when prices sink to zero, or even lower. https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/power-prices-surge-as-renewables-output-flatlines-20241007-p5kgcd |
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