Conservation of tropical forests for their carbon and biodiversity values. International efforts to save tropical forests for the carbon they store could help mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. This project will aid these efforts by developing methods to model future deforestation and extending decision theory for the new challenges presented by international carbon-payment schemes.
Carbon conundrum: Functional characterisation of organic matter-clay mineral interactions in relation to carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration in soil has been recognised as one of the possible measures through which greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated. The major processes involved in carbon sequestration in soil include chemical immobilisation of carbon with soil particles and physical protection in the pores of soil microaggregates. These two processes are mediated through the funct ....Carbon conundrum: Functional characterisation of organic matter-clay mineral interactions in relation to carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration in soil has been recognised as one of the possible measures through which greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated. The major processes involved in carbon sequestration in soil include chemical immobilisation of carbon with soil particles and physical protection in the pores of soil microaggregates. These two processes are mediated through the functional relationships of soil organic matter and clay mineral interactions in soils. This project investigates nanoscale organomineral association underlying microaggregate formation and stability, as well as the distribution and microbial decomposition of carbon within microaggregates using a suite of advanced spectroscopic, molecular and isotopic techniques.Read moreRead less
Risk assessment of climate change mitigation measures. This project will consider market based mechanisms for environmental protection policies and will have both a theoretical and a practical dimension. The main benefactors of the project will be environmental regulators and policy makers working in this area.
A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding .... A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding the critical exchanges of water and greenhouse gases (GHGs) combining field methodologies and hydrological models, under different climatic conditions. The intended outcomes will benefit management of GHG emissions, coastal flooding and vulnerable groundwater dependent habitats.Read moreRead less
Role of nitrogen-rich compounds for increasing carbon sequestration in soil. This project aims to unravel how increasing concentrations of nitrogen-rich compounds in soils can potentially increase our ability to sequester soil organic carbon. This is significant because long-term agricultural production greatly reduces soil organic carbon stocks and releases carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Expected outcomes of this project include providing information that is urgently needed to develop pred ....Role of nitrogen-rich compounds for increasing carbon sequestration in soil. This project aims to unravel how increasing concentrations of nitrogen-rich compounds in soils can potentially increase our ability to sequester soil organic carbon. This is significant because long-term agricultural production greatly reduces soil organic carbon stocks and releases carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Expected outcomes of this project include providing information that is urgently needed to develop predictive carbon models for effective policy-making and improved management. This project should provide substantial benefits, including fulfilling the carbon sequestration potential of Australia’s soils, thereby delivering positive economic outcomes through increased farm-gate output and mitigation of climate change.Read moreRead less
Enhanced Prediction of Landfill Gas Emissions Through Geosynthetic Systems. Landfill gas represents an opportunity for electricity generation and carbon abatement: it need not be managed solely for environmental, health or safety risk reasons. However, our ability to predict gas collection and fugitive emissions from landfills capped with geosynthetics liners, in consideration of the myriad of factors that control these processes, is imperfect. Building on recent advances in unsaturated soil mec ....Enhanced Prediction of Landfill Gas Emissions Through Geosynthetic Systems. Landfill gas represents an opportunity for electricity generation and carbon abatement: it need not be managed solely for environmental, health or safety risk reasons. However, our ability to predict gas collection and fugitive emissions from landfills capped with geosynthetics liners, in consideration of the myriad of factors that control these processes, is imperfect. Building on recent advances in unsaturated soil mechanics, this project aims to conduct cutting-edge experimental and theoretical research to develop an experimentally-validated theory of gas migration through geosynthetics systems that is expected to lead to major improvement in performance and provide integrated design tools which are much needed but not currently availableRead moreRead less
Improved predictions of greenhouse gas transfers in landfill composite liner covers containing geomembrane defects. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicated that methane accounted for 85 per cent of the waste sector's annual greenhouse emissions in 2008, and stressed the need to undertake a range of activities to reduce these emissions. Models and theories derived from this project will address specifically the above issue leading to enhanced economic benefits.
Landfill gas leakages in geosynthetic lining systems: closing missing gaps. This project aims to resolve the shortfall in the fundamental understanding of the coupling between gas flow and geosynthetic liner systems by developing practical and new modelling techniques. The project expects to underpin the development of an experimentally validated theory to predict gas leakage rates through geosynthetics composite liner systems. Expected outcomes of the project are the establishment of a new conc ....Landfill gas leakages in geosynthetic lining systems: closing missing gaps. This project aims to resolve the shortfall in the fundamental understanding of the coupling between gas flow and geosynthetic liner systems by developing practical and new modelling techniques. The project expects to underpin the development of an experimentally validated theory to predict gas leakage rates through geosynthetics composite liner systems. Expected outcomes of the project are the establishment of a new conceptual framework and improved integrated design tools for the mitigation of gas escape through geosynthetics liner systems. These outcomes are expected to benefit the waste industry by providing the necessary scientific advances to enable a better estimate of gas emissions from landfills.Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less
Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools: A Long-term, Experimental Approach. Marine reserves, areas permanently closed to fishing, are potentially valuable fisheries management tools. Reserves may sustain fisheries external to them by containing undisturbed breeding stocks and becoming net exporters of adults and propagules. Our studies in the Philippines suggest that such benefits may only eventuate after 5-15 years of effective protection. This project will continue our long-term (17-25 ....Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools: A Long-term, Experimental Approach. Marine reserves, areas permanently closed to fishing, are potentially valuable fisheries management tools. Reserves may sustain fisheries external to them by containing undisturbed breeding stocks and becoming net exporters of adults and propagules. Our studies in the Philippines suggest that such benefits may only eventuate after 5-15 years of effective protection. This project will continue our long-term (17-25 year) studies of abundance and yield at 3 established reserves, and use a replicated experiment at 3 new reserves, to test if reserves can enhance local fish biomass and catch. We will also compare effects of reserves in Australia and the Philippines.Read moreRead less