Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH210100001
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,062,428.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy (NiCE). Urban utilities are in need to design resilient wastewater infrastructure to tackle the pressures of urban intensification, waterways pollution and climate change. This Hub aims to transform the wastewater industry with an unprecedented, city-scale circular economy of nutrients based on urine separation and processing at building level, to produce safe and effective liquid fertilisers. By engaging with stakeholders across the value cha ....ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy (NiCE). Urban utilities are in need to design resilient wastewater infrastructure to tackle the pressures of urban intensification, waterways pollution and climate change. This Hub aims to transform the wastewater industry with an unprecedented, city-scale circular economy of nutrients based on urine separation and processing at building level, to produce safe and effective liquid fertilisers. By engaging with stakeholders across the value chain, this Hub expects to bring two urine processing technologies to commercial readiness, and to produce new regulations and business models for the circular economy. This will add resilience to the wastewater and urban farming industries, and will create market opportunities for new Australian technologies.Read moreRead less
Nanostructured liquid crystal particles as Next Generation agricultural bioactive delivery systems. Improving the efficiency of use of agricultural chemicals, through utilization of novel liquid crystalline carriers particles, will deliver significant environmental and economic benefits. Reduced overall usage and input of chemicals into the environment, together with lower water consumption in the treatment of crops will contribute to an Environmentally Sustainable Australia, with benefits in re ....Nanostructured liquid crystal particles as Next Generation agricultural bioactive delivery systems. Improving the efficiency of use of agricultural chemicals, through utilization of novel liquid crystalline carriers particles, will deliver significant environmental and economic benefits. Reduced overall usage and input of chemicals into the environment, together with lower water consumption in the treatment of crops will contribute to an Environmentally Sustainable Australia, with benefits in reduced salinity. More economical farming will also lead to flow on benefits to other businesses in rural communities. The project will also enhance Australia's reputation in the uptake of nanotechnologies, and in training of young scientists in the nanotechnology field.Read moreRead less
Enhanced efficiency fertilisers for agricultural sustainability and environmental quality. Expected benefits will come from reduced environmental impact and improved profitability of farming. These include: demonstrably reduced emissions of nitrogen gases (nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas), nitric oxide (ozone active), and ammonia (a pollutant and secondary greenhouse gas); less nitrate leaching, soil acidification and nitrogen contamination of water resources; increased flexibility in timing and ....Enhanced efficiency fertilisers for agricultural sustainability and environmental quality. Expected benefits will come from reduced environmental impact and improved profitability of farming. These include: demonstrably reduced emissions of nitrogen gases (nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas), nitric oxide (ozone active), and ammonia (a pollutant and secondary greenhouse gas); less nitrate leaching, soil acidification and nitrogen contamination of water resources; increased flexibility in timing and method of fertiliser application; reduced requirement for nitrogen fertiliser, and; helping farmers adapt to future climatic and elevated CO2 conditions. These outcomes will significantly improve and help protect the future financial and environmental conditions of rural Australia, and improve our national greenhouse account. Read moreRead less
Bioinspired tuneable catalysts for renewable ammonia production. The project will design a new solar-powered system for electrosynthesis of ammonia to replace the current energy intensive, non-sustainable process that generates 1.5% of global CO2 emissions. An innovative new system will be developed by combining cutting edge electrochemical, spectroscopic and theoretical methods. Expected key outcomes include novel concepts in the design of advanced materials, and an efficient process for the gr ....Bioinspired tuneable catalysts for renewable ammonia production. The project will design a new solar-powered system for electrosynthesis of ammonia to replace the current energy intensive, non-sustainable process that generates 1.5% of global CO2 emissions. An innovative new system will be developed by combining cutting edge electrochemical, spectroscopic and theoretical methods. Expected key outcomes include novel concepts in the design of advanced materials, and an efficient process for the green ammonia synthesis. Given the strategic importance of ammonia as a future energy carrier for the export of Australian renewables and as a major source of fertilisers, this project should provide significant national economic and ecological benefits and is expected to have a broad reaching global impact.Read moreRead less
Sustainable nitrogen chemistry. The goal of this project is to develop sustainable methods to produce nitrates from air and water, using renewable electricity. This new electrochemical technology will be based on the design of new electrolytes and catalysts supported by advanced theoretical concepts to provide high rate of production and selectivity. This is expected to generate new fundamental knowledge in materials and catalysis science. As traditional production of nitrates for industry and a ....Sustainable nitrogen chemistry. The goal of this project is to develop sustainable methods to produce nitrates from air and water, using renewable electricity. This new electrochemical technology will be based on the design of new electrolytes and catalysts supported by advanced theoretical concepts to provide high rate of production and selectivity. This is expected to generate new fundamental knowledge in materials and catalysis science. As traditional production of nitrates for industry and agriculture generates significant greenhouse gas emissions, the core anticipated outcome of this project is a new, sustainable era of nitrogen chemistry. This is also expected to benefit farmers by providing a process for the generation of sustainable fertilisers on a local basis.Read moreRead less
Dynamic resource provisioning for autonomic management of cloud computing environments. In the next 20 years, service-oriented computing will play an important role in shaping the industry and will require cloud infrastructure hosting applications to deliver services at low cost. This project will develop technologies for self-managed cloud computing platforms that reduce usage and operational costs, thus transforming the Australian economy.
High-productivity ammonia electrosynthesis. The aim of this project is to develop and demonstrate high-performance devices for ammonia production from renewables by a scalable electrolysis method. This will be achieved by experimental and modelling investigations of the nitrogen reduction reaction to guide the design of tailor-made cathodes. New knowledge in catalysis and materials science is expected to be generated. The target outcome of the project is a sustainable and affordable ammonia synt ....High-productivity ammonia electrosynthesis. The aim of this project is to develop and demonstrate high-performance devices for ammonia production from renewables by a scalable electrolysis method. This will be achieved by experimental and modelling investigations of the nitrogen reduction reaction to guide the design of tailor-made cathodes. New knowledge in catalysis and materials science is expected to be generated. The target outcome of the project is a sustainable and affordable ammonia synthesis method as an alternative to the current fossil-fuels-based and excessively greenhouse-emitting process. The technology to be developed in this project is anticipated to be of significant benefit to the Australian agriculture sector as a local, on-demand source of low-cost fertilisers.Read moreRead less
New dimensions of electrocatalyst design for sustainable energy future. This project aims to produce valuable chemicals from air, water and Australia’s abundant renewable energy, by developing efficient, robust catalysts for water oxidation, nitrogen reduction and ammonia oxidation — key processes for sustainable production of green fuels and fertilisers. The interdisciplinary project strategy will use a suite of advanced instrumental and theoretical tools to understand and control how catalysts ....New dimensions of electrocatalyst design for sustainable energy future. This project aims to produce valuable chemicals from air, water and Australia’s abundant renewable energy, by developing efficient, robust catalysts for water oxidation, nitrogen reduction and ammonia oxidation — key processes for sustainable production of green fuels and fertilisers. The interdisciplinary project strategy will use a suite of advanced instrumental and theoretical tools to understand and control how catalysts operate. Expected outcomes include new techniques to study catalysts, new catalyst design concepts, and novel high-performance catalytic materials and devices for sustainable electrosynthesis. These new technologies should reduce emissions and help Australia be a world leader in renewable-energy and fertiliser export.Read moreRead less
Tailoring physiologically-based nanomaterial fertilisers for the biofortification of zinc in broadacre crops. Soil zinc deficiency is a global issue causing low crop yield and malnutrition. This project will develop a new class of fertiliser formulations by combining advanced chemistry techniques with plant physiology knowledge and nanomaterial manufacturing. These products will be designed for enhanced agronomic efficiency and environmental safety.
Algorithms and Software Systems for Management of Software-Defined Clouds. This project seeks to develop technologies for more powerful and lower-cost cloud computing. Cloud computing offers utility-oriented information technology services to users worldwide. Based on pay-as-you-go model, it enables hosting of pervasive applications from consumer, scientific and business domains. However, applications are unable to harness the full power of the cloud due to partial virtualisation and lack of int ....Algorithms and Software Systems for Management of Software-Defined Clouds. This project seeks to develop technologies for more powerful and lower-cost cloud computing. Cloud computing offers utility-oriented information technology services to users worldwide. Based on pay-as-you-go model, it enables hosting of pervasive applications from consumer, scientific and business domains. However, applications are unable to harness the full power of the cloud due to partial virtualisation and lack of integrated management of compute and network resources of data centres. This project aims to transform cloud computing by developing architectural principles for software-defined clouds; algorithms and policies for integrated allocation of compute and network resources to meet quality-of-service requirements of applications; and a novel software technology for energy-efficient management of software-defined clouds.Read moreRead less