Lithium Valley Main Report 2018
workforce highly valued by resource industries in the north of the State; and ● ● Is committed to managing the environmental impacts of industry. Environmental issues including noise, air quality, societal risk, groundwater and the marine environment of Cockburn Sound are being well managed by industry and government, with improvement in the local environment continuing over time. One of WA’s strategic advantages is the concentration of oil and gas, agriculture, defence, petrochemicals and resources industries all in one location. In this concentrated cluster lies the necessary expertise in metal fabrication, infrastructure, electrical trades, project management, chemical analysis, monitoring processes/ training, etc, that has developed symbiotically with these global industries. The economies of scale, collaboration and competition this allows makes the region highly competitive. Other regions in Australia and the Indian Ocean do not have these advantages and is another reason why Perth is an ideal location for secondary manufacturing of New Energy metals.
A further rational for focusing on the WTC is the need for high quality New Energy metals for battery production. Electric vehicle manufacturers are requiring much higher quality of refined metals for their batteries. In order to enable this, industries need to locate where they can to access the workforce, the technologies, and the research capabilities that enable higher technology production. Locating in the WTC would enable this and hence Lithium Valley industries would be attracted there. A Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for the New Energy industry would greatly assist such as goal ensuring quality products to international standards. The WTC is geographically isolated from other major Australian industrial centres and resource hubs and has developed independently into a unique industrial cluster with a wide variety of activity and industries. The number of connections in the WTC makes it one of the most intense industrial synergy regions in the world and comprises a range of by-product and utility exchanges. For instance, in the 2014 Western Trade Coast Integrated Assessment report it identified over 158 synergistic industrial exchanges compared to 30 in Kalundborg, Denmark. 52 Kalundborg is regularly cited as an example of a world- leading industrial cluster.
52 SKM and REU (2014), Western Trade Coast Integrated Assessment – Environmental, Social and Economic Impact, September 2013 (Reissued 2014). Document prepared for the Western Trade Coast Industries Council, https://www.kic. org.au/library/reports-submissions/242-integrated-assessment-executive-summary/file.html . (Accessed: 01 May 2018)
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