Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has announced 24 projects that have been selected to share $50 million in research grants from the Australian government, including a recycling facility for wind turbine blades and a project that seeks to develop revolutionary technology to produce qubits.
The grants are part of the government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) initiative, which is now at its 14th round.
The initiative currently focuses on the circular economy, along with priority areas included in the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, according to a media release from Minister Husic.
“We need to be much smarter in how we design, use and recycle products as we move toward a circular economy,” Husic said. “This round of grants is about putting great Australian know-how to good use.”
The selected projects will receive a further $72 million of cash and in-kind contributions and involve 100 partners working across nearly all states and territories.
One of the projects selected for the initiative is NSW-based Diraq, which will use its $3 million grant to accelerate the development of its novel technology to produce qubits, which are needed in the manufacturing of quantum computers.
Meanwhile, Victorian company Industrial Property Maintenance will use its $3 million grant to develop a processing treatment and a pilot recycling facility for wind turbine blades.
The project seeks to establish a circular model for the green energy sector as approximately more than 30,000 tonnes of wind turbine blades are expected to be sent to landfill by 2050.
NSW-based company Enviropacific Services is also among the grant recipients, with over $2.8 million slated to support the commercialisation of its environmentally focused technology, which will transform waste from thermal treatment facilities into innovative construction materials.
“Many of these projects are in National Reconstruction Fund priority areas, ensuring there is a steady pipeline of investment-ready projects to consider in coming years,” said Minister Husic.
The recipients of the CRC-P grants were selected through a competitive, merit-based evaluation conducted by an independent committee of industry experts.
A full list of projects selected for the CRC-P initiative is available on business.gov.au.
