Star Scientific, a hydrogen technology company based north of Sydney, has won the global South By Southwest innovation award for its Hydrogen Energy Release Optimiser, or HERO technology.

A multibillion-dollar solar, battery storage, wind and potentially green hydrogen project in Victoria’s Gippsland region is moving forward after getting backing from superfund Hostplus. Originally proposed by Solis Renewable Energy, the project is now owned by Octopus Australia as part of its joint venture with CFEC.

Over the weekend, Angus Taylor effectively handed over billions to carbon credit aggregation companies born of the increased price of Australia’s carbon credits – without any clear reasoning. This “weird” decision, as Bruce Mountain called it, stumped many but the Australia Institute told pv magazine Australia it’s just one of many moves the Morrison government has made to increase the supply of carbon credits and depress their price – a strategy which seems curiously misaligned with the scheme’s stated purpose of reducing emissions.

Fortescue Future Industries and Airbus have formed a partnership, saying they will work together to realise a green hydrogen-based aircraft by 2035.

With Australia’s unstoppable clean energy transition picking up pace, the question of jobs and how to reskill fossil fuel workforces is again at centre stage. Over the weekend, the Victorian government announced an initiative to encourage women to enter the male-dominated industry, while the federal government announced it would begin delivering reports on energy sector jobs to avoid skills shortages.

Risen Energy has extended the product warranty on its Australian residential modules from 15 to 25 years. The news comes just weeks after SunPower Maxeon pushed the Australian market by increasing its new warranties to 40 years.

A joint fund with roughly $125 million from both the Australian and German governments has opened today and is seeking applications from projects across the value chain of renewable green hydrogen.

The Victorian government will fund a floating solar project, an initiative to locally manufacture solar batteries, and install a portable renewable energy system for community services during emergencies as part of its Latrobe Valley program.

Origin Energy has announced plans for a potential Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub underpinned by a deal it’s made with mining and infrastructure company Orica.

The realisation of biodegradable batteries is a step closer thanks to research from South Australia’s Flinders University, which has developed a 2.8V organic polymer battery. While this battery was made from synthetic polymers, research lead Dr Zhongfan Jia told pv magazine Australia the team’s future iterations will source “materials directly from nature” saying this promises to reduce waste and reliance on mined materials and could have novel applications in fields like biotech.