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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-15 Daily Xml
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MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade. Can the minister inform the house how the state government is assisting local industries to achieve efficiencies through innovation?

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Small Business) (14:44): I thank the member for Little Para for this question. I know he has a lot of manufacturing in his electorate; there is a lot to do, and he is a very strong advocate for that in his area. We know that South Australian manufacturers need to be smarter in what is an increasingly competitive world market. That is why encouraging innovation and advanced manufacturing is one of this government's strategic priorities.

I am very pleased to be able to tell the house that the Weatherill Labor government has just committed $100,000 to a Barossa Valley consortium that is undertaking a new study under the state government's CleverGreen Eco-Innovation program. This program is a three-year, $3 million program that assists companies develop solutions that promote resource efficiency and reduce waste. Under this partnership Barossa-based winery Yalumba has joined with Tarac Technologies to successfully submit a grant application to develop a solar vacuum heat pipe collector through a feasibility study involving the University of Adelaide.

This grant will help progress an innovative, environmentally sustainable project that could one day apply to the whole wine industry. If successful, it could mean that winemakers could achieve greater resource efficiencies on an industrial scale. The study will involve a concept design of a solar vacuum heat pipe collector system for a typical winery and evaluate economic energy and environmental benefits. I am told that the solar absorber is surrounded by a vacuum inside a glass pipe, resulting in minimal heat loss from the collector because it is inside this vacuum.

It is hoped that through this process the solar vacuum heat pipe connector will ultimately produce clean, renewable energy to heat water. This will be of significant benefit for wineries that require considerable volumes of hot water for cleaning. The annual cost of heating hot water for wineries and wine bottling facilities for the South Australian wine industry is estimated to be well in excess of $2 million. I am proud of the strategic role the state government is playing in providing a strategic framework for the manufacturing sector to innovate, transform and develop. I commend this project to the house and wish Yalumba, Tarac Technologies and the researchers at the University of Adelaide all the best in their endeavours to innovate.

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