Lulea, Sweden | In the back blocks of the remote northern Swedish town of Lulea, in an unremarkable shed, a posse of Australian-backed engineers and scientists are cooking something up.

Their modest factory bears no resemblance to the chaotic kitchen of The Muppet Show’s Swedish chef. Except that there’s a gadget that looks like a super-complicated kettle, and one that resembles a giant mixer, and something that looks like a row of microwave ovens, feeding into a large kiln. He would probably feel right at home.