Direct geothermal energy: harnessing an emerging technology. To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the demand for renewable energy technologies with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is rapidly becoming a global priority. Direct geothermal systems use shallow ground as a heat source and sink for heating and cooling buildings, using ground heat exchangers (GHEs) and heat pumps. Substituting common heating and cooling systems with geothermal ones can reduce energy consumption by up to 75 per ....Direct geothermal energy: harnessing an emerging technology. To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the demand for renewable energy technologies with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is rapidly becoming a global priority. Direct geothermal systems use shallow ground as a heat source and sink for heating and cooling buildings, using ground heat exchangers (GHEs) and heat pumps. Substituting common heating and cooling systems with geothermal ones can reduce energy consumption by up to 75 per cent and thus greenhouse gas emissions, since 91 per cent of electricity comes from fossil fuels in Australia. This project aims to develop new full scale physical and numerical models which will allow studying the effects of GHE configuration and intermittent use on efficiency and which will lead towards improving the poor and scarce existing design techniques.Read moreRead less
Developing an Essential Research Platform for the Molecular Engineering of Photosystem II. Sunlight reaching the earth is used by plants and algae to drive photosynthesis and to store chemical energy. Possibly the most fundamental contribution photosynthesis makes to earth is to generate gaseous oxygen, the result of solar driven water-splitting chemistry. However, the mechanism behind water-splitting is not exactly known. In this proposal we will construct a new model cyanobacteria host to stu ....Developing an Essential Research Platform for the Molecular Engineering of Photosystem II. Sunlight reaching the earth is used by plants and algae to drive photosynthesis and to store chemical energy. Possibly the most fundamental contribution photosynthesis makes to earth is to generate gaseous oxygen, the result of solar driven water-splitting chemistry. However, the mechanism behind water-splitting is not exactly known. In this proposal we will construct a new model cyanobacteria host to study water splitting. The host organism will be genetically modified to enable mechanistic questions of water oxidation to be tested and will provide new and pure forms of isolated protein. This model organism will provide team of international researchers with a remarkable tool new to study photosynthesis.Read moreRead less
Sustainable Solar Hydrogen Production from Waste Water. The world energy demand, expected to triple by 2100, must be met from sustainable and non-polluting sources. Sunlight is the largest available carbon-neutral energy source, with enough energy striking the planet in one hour to satisfy our current requirements for about a year. With the novel catalysts designed in this project, we will use this energy to simultaneously generate hydrogen and destroy organic pollutants by oxidation. The hydr ....Sustainable Solar Hydrogen Production from Waste Water. The world energy demand, expected to triple by 2100, must be met from sustainable and non-polluting sources. Sunlight is the largest available carbon-neutral energy source, with enough energy striking the planet in one hour to satisfy our current requirements for about a year. With the novel catalysts designed in this project, we will use this energy to simultaneously generate hydrogen and destroy organic pollutants by oxidation. The hydrogen can then be used as a clean source of sustainable energy and the water recycled. Our climate, proximity to major economies of the future, and long commercial and research experience in solar energy make Australia an ideal location for a hydrogen production industry.Read moreRead less
The cellular dynamics of lipid droplets: implications for obesity and biodiesel production. Obesity is a pandemic that if not stopped, will lead to huge social and economic problems in Australia. In essence, the hallmark of human obesity is the accumulation of cellular lipid droplets. This research will benefit Australia by providing a fundamental understanding of how lipid droplets are formed. This will have immediate international impact at the scientific level and will also identify novel com ....The cellular dynamics of lipid droplets: implications for obesity and biodiesel production. Obesity is a pandemic that if not stopped, will lead to huge social and economic problems in Australia. In essence, the hallmark of human obesity is the accumulation of cellular lipid droplets. This research will benefit Australia by providing a fundamental understanding of how lipid droplets are formed. This will have immediate international impact at the scientific level and will also identify novel compounds and strategies for treating obesity. The proposed study will also benefit Australian agriculture and energy industry by providing strategies to improve the production of plant oil and biodiesel. Read moreRead less
Addressing Challenges for the Future Grids – Harmonics Standardization. The main aim of this project is to deliver appropriate frequency standardisation to protect electricity grids and support the use of renewable energy sources. Globally, there is no harmonic standardisation within the frequency range of 2–150 kHz, which can significantly affect the reliability of electricity networks and smart grids. Electricity networks are increasingly using renewable energy sources and an efficient loads a ....Addressing Challenges for the Future Grids – Harmonics Standardization. The main aim of this project is to deliver appropriate frequency standardisation to protect electricity grids and support the use of renewable energy sources. Globally, there is no harmonic standardisation within the frequency range of 2–150 kHz, which can significantly affect the reliability of electricity networks and smart grids. Electricity networks are increasingly using renewable energy sources and an efficient loads approach based on power electronics technology. However, this can affect grid reliability and robustness. The project aims to develop advanced tools to better understand the power quality issues of Australian residential, commercial and industrial distribution networks. It also aims to develop novel techniques to improve power quality and reliability of the grids, and to develop harmonics emission and immunity levels to modify the Australian standards accordingly.Read moreRead less
Blue energy harvesting and storage technology for wearable electronics. This project aims to develop new self-charging power devices that can harvest and store body energy generated during body motions, and power smart and implantable medical electronics. The project will develop new Piezo-supercapacitors by designing new electrode materials and cell designs. The charge storage and transport kinetics will be uncovered using advanced in-situ characterisation techniques and modern simulation metho ....Blue energy harvesting and storage technology for wearable electronics. This project aims to develop new self-charging power devices that can harvest and store body energy generated during body motions, and power smart and implantable medical electronics. The project will develop new Piezo-supercapacitors by designing new electrode materials and cell designs. The charge storage and transport kinetics will be uncovered using advanced in-situ characterisation techniques and modern simulation methods. The project expects to generate new knowledge in blue energy harvesting and storage systems, training for young scientists, and generate intellectual property with potential commercialised products to be used in implantable devices, placing Australia at the forefront of new technology.Read moreRead less
Exploration of Advanced Nanostructures for Sodium-ion Battery Application. The aim of this project is to develop advanced nanostructured electrode materials for high energy, long service life sodium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion batteries are the most promising choice for large-scale electrical energy storage, in particular for renewable energy sources and smart electric grids, owing to their low cost and natural abundance of sodium. The success of this project will advance fundamental understanding ....Exploration of Advanced Nanostructures for Sodium-ion Battery Application. The aim of this project is to develop advanced nanostructured electrode materials for high energy, long service life sodium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion batteries are the most promising choice for large-scale electrical energy storage, in particular for renewable energy sources and smart electric grids, owing to their low cost and natural abundance of sodium. The success of this project will advance fundamental understanding of sodium-ion batteries, and provide techniques for the development of a promising low-cost system for renewable energy storage, which is urgently needed in smart electricity grids. Read moreRead less
Designing reactivity of homogeneous and heterogeneous water-splitting catalysts using muti-dimensional site-selective spectroscopies. New classes of heterogeneous manganese-calcium water splitting catalysts analogous to the unique biological water splitting cofactor have recently emerged but with far lower catalytic rates than seen for the biological system. These new materials are promising targets for large-scale hydrogen fuel production with low cost, high efficiency and ease of manufacture. ....Designing reactivity of homogeneous and heterogeneous water-splitting catalysts using muti-dimensional site-selective spectroscopies. New classes of heterogeneous manganese-calcium water splitting catalysts analogous to the unique biological water splitting cofactor have recently emerged but with far lower catalytic rates than seen for the biological system. These new materials are promising targets for large-scale hydrogen fuel production with low cost, high efficiency and ease of manufacture. To achieve this, the performance gap between these materials and the homogenous biological catalyst must be bridged. Multi-dimensional site-selective spectroscopies, including magneto/optical resonance methods which are aimed to be developed in this project are expected to provide new, atomic level understanding of properties needed to achieve high catalytic efficiency, thus guiding rational catalyst design.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms and innovative technologies for machining nanoscale multilayered thin film solar panels. This project addresses an important manufacturing bottleneck in the solar energy industry by addressing significant limitations in machining multilayered solar panels. A successful outcome will provide an important breakthrough in machining technology applicable not only to solar panels but other material science applications.
Stability Assessment of Australia’s Future Electrical Grids. This project aims to identify important conceptual gap in the understanding of inherent coupling between synchronous and non-synchronous generation systems, with a focus on potential adverse effect due to their fundamentally different underlying physical principles. New discoveries in physical properties and dynamic couplings will be applied to provide a more accurate representation of system dynamics under low system strength conditio ....Stability Assessment of Australia’s Future Electrical Grids. This project aims to identify important conceptual gap in the understanding of inherent coupling between synchronous and non-synchronous generation systems, with a focus on potential adverse effect due to their fundamentally different underlying physical principles. New discoveries in physical properties and dynamic couplings will be applied to provide a more accurate representation of system dynamics under low system strength conditions, revealing root causes of different instability phenomena. Expected outcomes include a suite of models for future electrical grids, improved knowledge about how renewable units respond to various system disturbance, a platform for dynamic simulation and novel tools for stability assessment.Read moreRead less