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Blue-sky thinkers block the sun to fight climate change
It might sound like science fiction, but a mix of scientists and venture capitalists are working on plans to block the sun to slow global warming.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Why Mike Cannon-Brookes invested in this mushroom
A tree-planting boom is required to get the world to net-zero, and the billionaire is betting mushrooms and fungi will be a crucial enabler
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
April
The incredible plan to refreeze the arctic
A new start-up is fighting climate change by thickening ice in the Arctic.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Green premiums are real, says aluminium boss
Electric vehicle makers are refusing to pay a green premium for low-carbon nickel but Capral says customers are paying an extra 5 per cent for clean aluminium.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Atlassian’s low-carbon skyscraper is ‘out of the ground’
The work-from-home revolution has failed to kill the $1.5b Atlassian Central project near Sydney Central Station, with a key construction milestone now passed.
- Updated
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
March
Why Formula 1’s fuel is going green
Pat Symonds wrote the rules that will compel Formula 1 cars to run on carbon-neutral fuel from 2026. Big oil companies are now racing to find solutions.
- Peter Ker
December 2023
Forrest family leads Rich List plunge on packaging disrupter
Andrew and Nicola Forrest have led a star-studded fundraising for the start-up that hopes to replace polystyrene with a more sustainable insulation material.
- Peter Ker
November 2022
This man is using ‘pixie dust’ to solve green hydrogen’s big problem
Professor Greg Metha and Fortescue might have a solution to Saul Griffith’s fear that Australia will waste time, money and renewable power making green hydrogen.
- Updated
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
How we can keep burning (clean) coal for 100 years
The man behind a low carbon gas-fired power station says he is certain it can be adapted to run on Australian coal and will mean coal can be burned for “hundreds of years”.
- Updated
- Peter Ker
Why Queensland sugar cane can be the ‘Exxon of biofuels’
The way it is farmed and processed could make it a more viable source of low-carbon aviation power than other crops such as corn.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
October 2022
The Aussie tech leading the world on electric planes
When the largest all-electric plane to fly took off in the US last month, an Australian-designed propulsion system was the wind beneath its wings.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Fixing craft beer’s dirty little secret
Is the explosion of small breweries in Australia making climate change worse? John Seltin is one artisan trying to ensure his only CO2 emissions are the bubble in his drinks.
The plan to fix craft brewing’s dirty little secret
Jon Seltin reckons climate change is already changing the taste of beer, and amid a craft brewing boom he’s determined not to add to the problem.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
BHP and the shipping industry rediscover the power of wind
Centuries after colonial powers sailed the seven seas on nothing but wind, big corporates like BHP are pushing a wind renaissance through the shipping industry.
- Updated
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Malcolm Turnbull joins Cannon-Brookes with stake in solar disrupter
The former prime minister says SunDrive’s technological breakthrough in solar cell manufacturing could be a “game changer”.
- Peter Ker
Americans bring direct air capture technology in from the ‘crazies’
Direct air capture start-ups are bracing for a wave of fresh investment after the United States Inflation Reduction Act included the emerging technology in its wide-ranging decarbonisation bill.
- Jessica Sier and Colin Packham
Dropping out of uni was the best thing this solar pioneer ever did
Vince Allen’s disruptive solar cell has broken world records and won investment from billionaires including Mike Cannon-Brookes. Now he’s determined to mass produce in Australia.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Elon Musk-backed start-up opens door to the smallest investors
The Australian carbon capture aspirant funded by Elon Musk’s private foundation will seek its next cash injection from ordinary punters via the Birchal crowdfunding platform.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
How Elon Musk’s cash helped these Aussies suck carbon out of the air
Convincing investors to back embryonic green industries like ‘direct air capture’ is hard, which makes grants from the likes of Elon Musk all the more welcome.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
September 2022
The Aussie who can make the sun shine after dark
John Lasich started concentrating solar power in his backyard in 1975. Now AGL, Chevron and Norway’s Equinor reckon he can deliver it after dark.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
July 2022
His company is up 800pc, but this scientist doesn’t care
This week’s Tech Zero podcast was almost finished recording when this millionaire scientist revealed a carbon-killing idea his boss wasn’t yet comfortable with.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
The ‘mad scientist’ who could turn Australia’s iron ore green
Calix shares have gone up 800 per cent in two years and founder Mark Sceats has now invented a kiln that he reckons will solve Australia’s iron ore emissions problems and deliver green iron.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
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