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INDUSTRY NEWS
IMCRC activate launches with rapid COVID-19 test Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC) has launched its new funding initiative, IMCRC activate, with an Australian first — the development of a rapid COVID-19 test that uses optical technology. Designed to provide a much-needed stimulus to Australian manufacturing businesses in the wake of COVID-19, IMCRC activate stimulates and fasttracks R&D investment, offering access to valuable expertise and matched cash funding between $50,000 and $150,000. The first approved project of the initiative is led by Alcolizer, a Perth-based company developing a rapid saliva test for SARSCoV-2 virus antigens using its existing drug testing technology. Alcolizer’s partnership with IMCRC and research collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) will see the project accelerate quickly in the face of the global health pandemic, evolving from a proof of concept to secure Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) readiness in just four months. As Australia emerges from the worst of the COVID-19 crisis, providing valuable and strategic support for shorter-term research projects in advanced manufacturing and digital technologies is a priority for IMCRC. David Chuter, CEO and Managing Director of IMCRC, commented: “As the fourth largest industry in Australia, manufacturing is critical to rebuilding the health of our economy. COVID-19 highlighted some serious capability gaps in the industry, and now we must focus on using our Australian resources and R&D strengths for future growth. The IMCRC activate funding initiative has been designed to do just that — provide funding and pathways for manufacturers to recover and thrive. “We’re thrilled our first approved project has been so successful to date and has the potential to provide much needed health,
social and economic benefits in the fight against COVID-19. We hope this new funding initiative will shine a light on the need for broader investment in Australian manufacturing R&D.” Alcolizer General Manager Roger Hunt added: “The IMCRC activate initiative has been absolutely instrumental in our progress developing the prototype for this test. We have been able to boost our manufacturing capabilities and accelerate the diversification of our business into a new area of opportunity.” Laboratory trials using the Alcolizer COVID-19 test prototype are expected to begin within two months. IMCRC activate is a new initiative designed to help Australian manufacturers take action and gain a competitive edge in the post COVID-19 world. To be eligible for IMCRC activate funding, projects must: • Be industry-led, deliver clear manufacturing outcomes, and be completed within six to 15 months. • Be undertaken by one of IMCRC’s partner research organisations. • Apply Industry 4.0 technologies and digital business models. • Move the project through ideally two Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRLs). • Ideally involve other Australian manufacturing SMEs as collaborators. • Address sustainability and/or national needs where possible. www.imcrc.org/activate
New report warns of gas industry decline A new report forecasts natural gas will inevitably decline as an energy source in Australia, calling into question the Federal Government’s “gas-fired recovery” and the prospect of cheaper energy for manufacturers. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has talked up a gas-fired recovery for manufacturing, raising expectations of big price reductions. However, the report from the Grattan Institute – entitled Flame out: the future of natural gas – shows that far from fuelling recovery from the COVID-19 recession, a combination of economics and environmental imperatives will place increasing pressure on the industry. “The evidence is clear: over time, gas will decline, economically and environmentally,” says Tony Wood, Grattan Institute Energy Program Director and the report’s lead author. “Rather than indulging in wishful thinking or living in denial, the Federal Government and the gas industry – and its customers – should start planning now for a future without natural gas, or at least with a dramatically reduced role for natural gas.” The report shows that eastern Australia faces inexorably more expensive gas. The east coast has already burned most of its low-cost gas and will not go back to the good old days of low prices, so gas will become an increasingly expensive energy source. If the Government intervenes directly in the market, taxpayers will pay the price via big subsidies.
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Even if the Government could significantly reduce gas prices, the benefits to manufacturing are overstated. The companies that would benefit most contribute only about 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employ only a little more than 10,000 people. Much of this gas-intensive industry is in Western Australia, which has low gas prices already. The report argues that the Government’s best role is to support the development and deployment of the low-emission alternatives that can replace natural gas in manufacturing, such as renewables-based hydrogen and renewables-based electricity. Australia must reduce emissions over coming decades to meet our international climate change commitments. The report also disputes the potential of gas as a ‘transition fuel’. As Australia’s coal-fired power stations retire over coming decades, it would be more expensive to replace them with gas than to switch to more renewable energy such as wind and solar. While gas will play an important backstop role in power generation, this does not require large volumes of gas.
