Selected CSIRO media mentions for the week commencing 7 June 2021.
The 2021 report used a new, more accurate approach for analysing the cost of renewables, to include additional ‘integration’ costs, finding that solar and wind are still the cheapest sources of new-build electricity – confirming the draft findings CSIRO initially released regarding the cost of renewable energy in December 2020 – Energy Magazine, 10 June 2021.
Shadow industry minister Ed Husic said Australia shouldn’t have to drop one research priority for a new one. “The government needs to support a diverse range of innovation projects. Pulling money out of one to feed another is a dead-end strategy,” Mr Husic said – InnovationAus, 10 June 2021.
CSIRO scientists have taken a DNA test, and turns out, they’re 100 per cent that certain about the exact location a bee has made your next jar of honey, right down to the very tree. In a national first, testing has been conducted to determine the exact location and what plant species have been pollinated by bees to create honey, by looking at the food’s genetic code – Sydney Morning Herald, 10 June 2021.
Continually dumping crushed rocks from a bulk carrier along a Great Barrier Reef shipping route could counteract the acidification of ocean water caused by fossil fuel burning, but would come with unknown side effects on the marine environment and coral reefs, according to a study from Australia’s science agency – Guardian Australia, 8 June 2021.
Hydrogen-based generators are an environmentally friendly alternative to those that run on diesel fuel. But many rely on solar, hydro or wind power, which are not always available. Brisbane-based Endua is making hydrogen-based power generators more accessible by generating more hydrogen through electrolysis and storing it for long-term use. The startup’s technology was developed at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and is commercialized by Main Sequence, the venture fund founded by CSIRO and Ampol, one of the largest fuel companies in the country – Techcrunch, 8 June 2021.
