MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
MONASH
                              ENERGY
                              INSTITUTE

MONASH
ENERGY
PROFILE
2020
monash.edu/energy-institute
MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
CONTENTS
                             2020 is a year like no other in recent history.

                             Over the summer, bushfires engulfed many parts of Australia, only to be followed by COVID-19. On the
                             one hand, the bushfires filled our skies with smoke, causing the air quality to reach unprecedented poor
                             quality, while also mass releasing CO2 from the burning of over 12.6 million hectares of bushland. The fire-
                             affected areas concurrently experienced major electricity blackouts and reliability issues, requiring the use
1    Welcome                 of expensive backup power to provide essential services. Meanwhile, the confinement of people at home
                             during COVID-19 saw the empty streets in most global cities result in pollution levels plummeting, yielding
3    About us                blue skies and fresh air in many countries for the first time in years. Concurrently, the average household
                             energy usage spiked causing major concerns about ongoing energy affordability, while oil markets
4    Our leadership team     crashed due to geopolitical conflict to provide the cheapest petrol prices in over a decade.

6    Initiatives             At face value, this scenario is chaotic. It presents a series of events that could not have been readily
                             predicted. Nonetheless, it provides a timely reminder of the intrinsic volatility that people are exposed to
12   Research                during major world crises. In such events, access to energy, whether it is in the form of electricity or a fuel,
                             is an essential service to ensure the wellbeing of our people and continuing operation of our businesses,
                             transport and industry sectors. However, not all energy vectors are created equal. The intrinsic link
20   ARC Centres             between energy, health, environment and society, suggests that these must be considered in unison. For
                             that reason, developing a global energy system that can respond to unfolding uncertainties, while also
22   Facilities              decarbonising our energy vectors is one of the greatest challenges that we as a humanity face.
25   Energy researchers      Researchers from across Monash University are working to solve this challenge. The Australian Research
                             Council funded Centres of Excellence in Exciton Science (ACEx), Future Low-Energy Electronic
                             Technologies (FLEET) and Electromaterial Science (ACES), and the ARC Research Hub for Energy-
                             efficient Separation (EESEP) demonstrate our world leading capabilities in fundamental research and
                             technical innovation. Meanwhile, the Emerging Technologies Research Lab brings to view our strength in
                             social, cultural and experiential dimensions of design, use and futures in energy. Altogether, our energy
                             community comprises over 170 experts from across Monash University.

                             The Monash Energy Institute was established to build on this community and its strengths to accelerate
                             the transition towards a sustainable energy future through impactful interdisciplinary research and
                             education programs. The Institute has technical expertise across five thematic areas: materials and
                             devices, energy resources, smart energy systems, markets and policy, and consumers. We are focussed
                             on building research depth across each of these, while developing interdisciplinary programs and strong
                             global partnerships to enable impact from our research. This is demonstrated through the numerous
                             energy activities that we have enabled, including the Net Zero Initiative, Grid Innovation Hub, and the
                             Woodside Monash Energy Partnership.

                             The Monash Energy Profile introduces the Monash energy ecosystem, showcasing flagship programs and
                             initiatives, while introducing our researchers who are passionately working to create a more sustainable
                             energy future.

                             Professor Jacek J. Jasieniak
                             Director, Monash Energy Institute
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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
ABOUT THE MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE
                            The Monash Energy Institute brings top minds in energy together to
                            accelerate the transition towards a sustainable energy future through
                            impactful interdisciplinary research and education programs for Monash
                            University and its trusted partners.

                            Monash Energy Institute builds on a community of over 170 researchers
                            actively working in the broad field of energy and the Monash University’s
                            world leading capabilities in areas such as economics, energy materials,
                            and data science to deliver local and global impact.

                            Monash Energy Institute has enabled the development of several key
                            interdisciplinary initiatives including the United Nations Momentum for Change
                            award winning Net Zero Initiative, the Grid Innovation Hub, RACE for 2030,
                            and the Woodside Monash Energy Partnership.

                            Trusted industry partnerships underpin Monash Energy Institute’s vision
                            to bring people together to solve global energy problems. We welcome
                            opportunities to discuss partnership pathways for interdisciplinary research,
                            engagement with our vibrant student community, and professional
                            development for industry professionals.

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP TEAM

    Professor Jacek Jasieniak                 Shreejan Pandey                         Professor Sarah Pink
    Director, Monash Energy Institute         General Manager                         Associate Director
    Faculty of Engineering                    Monash Energy Institute                 Co-Theme Leader of Consumers
                                                                                      Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
                                                                                      Faculty of Information Technology

    Associate Professor Yolande Strengers     Professor Mainak Majumder               Associate Professor Ariel Liebman
    Associate Director                        Associate Director                      Associate Director
    Co-Theme Leader of Consumers              Theme Leader of Materials and Devices   Theme Leader of Smart Energy Systems
    Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture   Faculty of Engineering                  Faculty of Information Technology
    Faculty of Information Technology

    Scott Ferraro                             Dr Roger Dargaville                     Associate Professor Guillaume Roger
    Buildings and Property                    Associate Director                      Associate Director
    Program Director Net Zero Initiative      Theme Leader of Energy Resources        Theme Leader of Markets and Policy
                                              Faculty of Engineering                  Faculty of Business and Economics

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
INITIATIVES

                            NET ZERO INITIATIVE                                      GRID INNOVATION HUB
                            Monash was the first Australian university to commit     The Grid Innovation Hub at Monash University is fostering
                            to an energy reduction target and we’re proud to         partnerships between industry and Monash University to
                            be a leader in taking action on climate change by        undertake high quality interdisciplinary research to address
                            transitioning to a 100% renewably powered future,        increasingly complex challenges faced by the Australian
                            removing carbon emissions from our Australian            energy sector.
                            campuses by 2030. Our strategy encompasses
                            five key pillars: energy efficiency measures, campus     The program brings together industry, innovators, and
                            electrification, deployment of on-site and off-site      researchers to explore the following overarching questions
                            renewable energy, building Net Zero ready buildings      in the following three key areas.
                            and an onsite sustainable Microgrid, and addressing
                            our residual emissions through offsetting.               National Energy Systems
                                                                                     How can the system be planned for economic efficiency,
                            Net Zero Precincts                                       reliability and security on the way towards 100%
                            An ambitious opportunity to develop a research,          renewables?
                            education and training program using the Net
                            Zero Initiative and Monash Technology Precinct           How do you (we) manage the operation of the bulk energy
                            as a living lab to generate transformative solutions     system with large penetration of variable renewables
                            and accelerating the decarbonisation of our              securely?
                            urban energy systems. We will develop and test a
                            coordinated transition approach for decarbonising        Regional and Local Energy Systems
                            our cities starting at the precinct level through
                            smart energy systems, net zero mobility and              How do you (we) integrate new digital technologies, small
                            liveable built environments. The Net Zero Precincts      scale storage while absorbing large amounts for rooftop
                            program will utilise interdisciplinary research to       solar energy with existing investment?
                            support industry transformation that brings together
                            Monash’s capabilities across technological, financial,   What is the mix of grid-side and customer side
                            behavioural and policy changes.                          technologies needed in the distribution grid and how do
                                                                                     you formulate policies and markets to economically adapt
                                                                                     these grids to the rapid investments by customers in
                            2018 Momentum for Change Lighthouse award                storage and distrubuted energy resources (DER)?
                            In 2015, at COP21, countries had to agree on the
                            Paris Agreement guidelines for a fair and equitable      Customers and their Energy Systems
                            transition to a low carbon economy powered by
                            renewable energy technologies. Monash was                How can the electricity sector work collaboratively with
                            awarded the Momentum for Change award in                 customers as they become empowered prosumers
                            2018 recognising our sustainability leadership           enabled by the distributed energy revolution?
                            status. The Net Zero Initiative is focusing on UN
                            Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and           What is the effect of customer choice and empowerment?
                            Clean Energy), SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and
                            Communities), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption             For more information visit
                            and Production) and SDG13 (Climate Action) and           monash.edu/energy-institute/grid-innovation-hub
                            SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

                            A living laboratory
                            At the Monash Clayton campus, researchers are
                            already tracking energy use behaviours of various
                            stakeholders, learning how to optimise energy use
                            and further reduce energy consumption through
                            new dynamic control technologies and real time
                            distributed energy-use visualisation systems.

                            For more information visit
                            monash.edu/net-zero-initiative

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
INITIATIVES

                            RELIABLE AFFORDABLE CLEAN ENERGY                          WOODSIDE MONASH ENERGY PARTNERSHIP
                            (RACE) FOR 2030                                           Woodside and Monash University have joined forces to
                                                                                      develop innovative responses to real-world challenges
                            Reliable Affordable Clean Energy (RACE) for 2030 is
                                                                                      through a long-term research partnership. Launched in
                            funded by the Australian Government Cooperative
                                                                                      July 2019, the Woodside Monash Energy Partnership is a
                            Research Centre (CRC) Program and will be led by
                                                                                      natural extension of a successful relationship that began
                            the University of Technology Sydney. It is the largest
                                                                                      with Woodside FutureLab at Monash in 2016.
                            CRC bid in the history of the CRC program.
                                                                                      As a major research partnership between Monash
                            Two of the grand challenges facing humans today
                                                                                      University and Woodside Energy to progress energy
                            are mitigating climate change and eradicating
                                                                                      solutions for a lower carbon future, the research and
                            poverty. One of the United Nations’ Sustainable
                                                                                      development initiatives are aligned to the United Nations
                            Development Goals is to ensure access to
                                                                                      Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on
                            affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy
                                                                                      leadership and novel technologies in the hydrogen value
                            for all. RACE for 2030 CRC, record-breaking
                                                                                      chain and carbon abatement.
                            investment by the Federal Government, is an
                            opportunity for our Monash researchers to work
                                                                                      To deliver on the aspirations of the Woodside Monash
                            on various energy-driven challenges to help the
                                                                                      Energy Partnership, the research objectives are structured
                            transition to a more sustainable future.
                                                                                      into three focused research themes: New Energy
                                                                                      Technologies, Carbon Capture, Conversion and Utilisation,
                            A cross-disciplinary partnership between the
                                                                                      and Energy Leadership.
                            Faculty of Information Technology (IT), Faculty
                            of Engineering, Monash Business School, the
                                                                                      Spanning fundamental technical and non-technical
                            Monash Grid Innovation Hub, Monash Sustainable
                                                                                      research all the way through to pilot and demonstration
                            Development Institute and the Monash Energy
                                                                                      projects, the research objectives will deliver solutions for
                            Institute, Monash University will be the lead Victorian
                                                                                      a lower carbon ecosystem that is competitive with current
                            research institution for the CRC, facilitating relevant
                                                                                      markets, scalable for bulk energy transport, value-adding
                            connections for partnering organisations and
                                                                                      through the creation of carbon products, and able to
                            industry to amplify Monash’s research impact in the
                                                                                      integrate with energy policies to enable a successful
                            energy sector.
                                                                                      transition.
                            Monash University will also play a crucial role in the
                                                                                      By bringing together leading researchers and industry
                            RACE for Networks research program, which is one
                                                                                      from across Monash, and beyond, into a collaboration
                            of the four research pillars of the CRC program,
                                                                                      with Woodside expertise, the Woodside Monash Energy
                            giving Monash a leading role in driving over $40
                                                                                      Partnership fosters an innovative approach to collaborative
                            million of funding for energy networks related
                                                                                      problem solving that will accelerate the energy transition.
                            research projects.
                                                                                      For more information visit
                            For more information visit
                                                                                      monash.edu/woodside
                            racefor2030.net.au

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
INITIATIVES

     MONASH MICROGRID
     Monash is developing a Microgrid at the Clayton
     campus. The microgrid will receive and store energy
     from various renewable energy sources. A precinct
     scale microgrid platform is being developed as part
     of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)
     funded Smart Energy City project. This platform
     will enable control of distributed energy resources,
     including a minimum of 1 MW of solar panels, 20
     buildings, electric vehicle charging stations and
     1 MWh of energy storage. These assets will be
     monitored in real-time, optimised to ensure efficient
     and reliable supply of electricity and connected to a
     transactive market which will allow each building to
     buy and sell electricity, and optimise energy use in
     response to pricing signals.

     The microgrid will enable control of when and how
     to use our energy, to effectively reduce demand and
     strain on the network during peak times. It will also
     help stabilise the wider grid, making it more resilient.
     This will benefit the broader community, especially
     during extreme weather events.

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
RESEARCH

MATERIALS AND DEVICES                                           Graphene is an exceptional two-dimensional material
                                                                with superior electronic conductivity, flexibility and
Monash University is a global leader in energy conversion       strength, which may as well be the material of the
materials and devices.                                          future. Researchers from the ARC Research Hub on
                                                                Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation are working
Our researchers are working on a diversity of materials         on graphene-based technologies and products can be
which are sustainable and game changers in how we               applied in many sectors including renewable energy,
generate, store and use energy. These have developed            biomedical, transport, construction, environmental
in the key areas outlined below and are currently being         remediation, defence and space industries – linking
demonstrated through major research initiatives supported       Monash University to the future that graphene will built.
by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and industry.
                                                                Electroactive materials
Next-generation solar cells: Light and energy                   Research conducted at the ARC Centre of Excellence in
interconversion materials                                       Electromaterials (ACES) includes creating and optimising
                                                                new materials for use in next-generation devices for
Monash University has been working in the area of light
                                                                energy applications, while considering the ethical and
and energy interconversion materials including next-
                                                                public policy implications of these technologies. ACES
generation solar cells for over two decades. Our focus
                                                                research teams are striving to construct complex 3D
in this area of research has been on printable solar cell
                                                                structures in which the spatial distribution of the functional
technologies. Developing printable solar cells that possess
                                                                elements can be controlled with implications in new
comparable efficiencies and stabilities to that offered by
                                                                processes for hydrogen and ammonia production.
silicon, will provide a cost-effective solution to meet the
world’s increasing power demands. Researchers at the
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (ACEx) are          Next-generation ultra-low energy technologies:
investigating the possibilities of transforming light into      Atomically thin and low dimensional materials
energy and energy into light. In collaboration with industry,
                                                                Led by Monash University, Australian and international
academics are involved in innovative research to improve
                                                                investigators at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Future
solar energy technology, lighting and security systems.
                                                                Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) are working
                                                                at the boundaries of what is possible in condensed matter
Batteries and energy storage                                    physics and nanotechnology to develop a new generation
Drawing from over a decade of research on catalysts,            of ultralow power devices. Research in topological
ionic liquids, membranes and carbon-based materials, we         materials, exciton superfluids, and light-transformed
have developed a leading position in synthesis and scale-       materials aims to create systems in which electrical
up of energy storage materials and their technologies.          current can flow with near-zero resistance. This will be
The energy storage program at Monash University has at          made possible by synthesising novel atomically-thin
its heart developing next-generation batteries that could       materials and developing nano-fabrication techniques to
power the future: lithium-sulphur, silicon, and magnesium       incorporate these materials into device structures.
systems. We prioritise practical viability for our energy
storage technologies by looking at sustainable source           Energy-efficient separation processes
of active materials, meeting the industrial criteria of
                                                                Research conducted at the ARC Research Hub for Energy-
scalability, and avenues of recycling and repurposing of
                                                                efficient Separation aims to develop advanced separation
used batteries and end-of-life solar cells.
                                                                materials, innovative products and smart processes to
                                                                reduce the energy consumption of separation processes
Monash University’s graphene supercapacitor research
                                                                which underpin Australian industry. The intended research
has been transformative to the global and local energy
                                                                outcomes will allow most of the Australian industry to
communities, in which major breakthroughs have led to
                                                                become more energy-efficient and cost-competitive in a
high impact academic publications, foundational IP, and
                                                                global economy. Other projects in this area include the
the establishment of spin-offs such as SupraG Energy and
                                                                development of multifunctional nanoparticle membranes,
Ionic Industries.
                                                                with a view to design intelligent membranes with
                                                                multifunctionalities (ultrafast filtration and smart sensing) for
                                                                use in energy and environmental industries.

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
RESEARCH

SMART ENERGY SYSTEMS

Sensor Networks
Our research expertise spans areas including radio-             Transport                                                     Cognitive buildings
frequency identification (RFID), smart antennas for                                                                           We are experimenting with research, design and
mobile and satellite communications, electromagnetic            The transport sector makes up close to a third of
                                                                our energy consumption. The uncertainty in future oil         implementation techniques in our Clayton campus to bring
bandgap structure assisted radio frequency (RF) devices,                                                                      a new level of intelligence and decision making capability
and various forms of antennas. Our capability extends           production and the long term need to transition away
                                                                from carbon-emitting fuel sources has suggested that an       to service occupants in buildings. This ‘living laboratory’
into processing data obtained from sensor networks                                                                            approach enables our team to collect available data and user
to visualise and interact with energy networks and              alternative source to fuel our transport needs is imminent.
                                                                                                                              feedback to enhance facilities and security management,
applications.                                                                                                                 and to create comfortable spaces for students and staff
                                                                Monash has one of the largest and broadest capabilities
                                                                in transport infrastructure research in the world. Our        while drastically reducing energy consumption.
Artificial Intelligence and Optimisation
                                                                leading capabilities are railway engineering and public
The AI-based Discrete Optimisation research group is            transport. We also have leading expertise in intelligent      Cybersecurity, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
working on both targeted and generic solving techniques         transport systems, traffic systems, road safety, industrial   Monash research in cybersecurity, cryptocurrency and
to address complex discrete optimisation problems,              design in vehicles, transport modelling, light-weight         blockchain has been supported by the Australian Research
with the view to making optimisation technologies more          metals for automotive and aerospace applications,             Council (ARC), Data 61 and industry partners. Our
widely accessible, across a range of applications. In           logistics and supply chains, and aerodynamic testing of       mission is to develop solutions to the security, privacy,
particular, our team is focused on research that helps          vehicles in our wind tunnel.                                  reliability, trust, and performance issues of different system
users (a) model and solve these problems more easily, (b)                                                                     environments. Our cybersecurity lab at Monash University
interrogate the system regarding the provided solution,         Energy access                                                 has strong collaboration between academics, industries
and (c) interactively re-optimise based on additional user                                                                    and governments, both locally and internationally. Our
information. In this way, it has a ‘human-in-the-loop’          Globally, close to 3 billion people are without access
                                                                to clean cooking facilities and close to 1 billion without    key areas of research include cryptography, blockchain,
approach to Discrete Optimisation that makes our team                                                                         cryptocurrency technology, big data security, privacy
quite unique.                                                   electricity. The issue affects Indigenous communities
                                                                in Australia and communities in emerging economies            enhanced technology, trusted computing, IoT security,
                                                                around the world. Our energy access group is working          biometric security, and network security.
Machine Learning
                                                                to accelerate the uptake of sustainable energy
Machine learning is the science behind big data, data           access through international interdisciplinary research       Energy Data Visualisation and Immersive Analytics
mining, data science, and artificial intelligence. It enables   partnerships between researchers and private, public,         Our energy visualisation and immersive analysis research
systems to learn from data, identify patterns, and make         and not-for-profit organisations. Our capabilities include    groups are interested in helping people to understand
decisions with minimal human intervention. Over the             governance, energy technologies, optimised grids,             complex, interlinked data through visualisation. Our work
last 10 years Machine Learning has grown to become              visualisation of energy systems, participatory methods of     to date has focused on the problem of finding high-quality
a fundamental technology driving innovations: Self-             engagement, and market systems for energy access.             layout for network diagrams and human interaction with
driving cars, Siri the iPhone personal assistant, Netflix                                                                     technologies. Our group has been working with large
movie recommendations, cancer diagnosis, discovery of                                                                         interactive surfaces and augmented and virtual reality – to
physics’ laws, and scientific progress. Our team covers                                                                       help people perform data analysis.
Association discovery, Bayesian methods, causal models,
classification, deep learning, forecasting, images, natural
language analytics, online learning and learning from non-
stationary distributions, semi-supervised models, spatio-
temporal, text and time series analytics.

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MONASH ENERGY PROFILE 2020 - MONASH ENERGY INSTITUTE - Monash University
RESEARCH

MARKETS AND POLICY                                         CONSUMERS
•    Policy                                                •   Emerging technologies
•    Regulation                                            •   Energy futures
•    Economics                                             •   Demand response
•    Transition                                            •   Decision making
                                                           •   Peer-to-peer trading and sharing
Australian Electricity Market Initiative (AEMI)            •   Energy access and affordability, social justice

AEMI aims at informing policymakers, assisting them in     The world is facing an increasingly uncertain energy
policy formulation and evaluating policy proposals using   future, ushered in by climate change, population growth,
rigorous economics analysis.                               decentralised power generation, new digitally-enabled
                                                           lifestyles, and emerging technologies. In this context of
AEMI works on                                              uncertainty, it is urgent that research led by the social
• market design                                            sciences, design and behavioural sciences plays a central
• the regulation of transmission and distribution assets   role in formulating new approaches to understanding and
• the industrial organisation of the electricity sector    intervening in our energy futures. This means producing
• the impact of new and emerging technologies such         new knowledge and understandings of the socio-
   as renewables and large-scale storage.                  technical relations through which energy will be consumed
                                                           in the future, and developing methods to ensure that our
AEMI intersects with the Monash Energy Institute by        energy futures are equitable, sustainable and support the
working in some interdisciplinary manner with electrical   growth of human health and wellbeing.
engineers, computer scientists and storage specialists
to better understand the physical characteristics of
these technologies and design more appropriate pricing
                                                           Emerging Technologies Research Lab
mechanisms.                                                We bring together social science and design research
                                                           and intervention, through the work of the Energy Futures
                                                           research programme in the Emerging Technologies
                                                           Research Lab. The Future Grid Homes project identified
                                                           residential consumer engagement strategies to encourage
                                                           participation in demand-management and the adoption
                                                           of emerging technologies related to the electricity
                                                           grid. The Digital Energy Futures project develops new
                                                           methodologies to create new energy future scenarios
                                                           drawing on socio-technical concepts and theories to
                                                           inform policy and planning.

                                                           BehaviourWorks
                                                           Our collaboration with BehaviourWorks enables us to
                                                           connect behaviour change experts with practitioners,
                                                           translate research evidence into practice, and foster
                                                           business, and economic and social change, for a better
                                                           energy future.

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RESEARCH

ENERGY RESOURCES

Wind energy and fluid dynamics                                 Gasification
Understanding fluid flow can help us harness the power         Research in this area includes the development of
of wind energy via wind turbines, and also reduce energy       catalytic gasification technologies for low-rank coal and
losses associated with air movement around and in              biomass, as well as gasification technologies for the
the wake of gas turbines. Efficiency gains can also be         use of low-rank coal char and biochar. In addition, the
had in the transport sector, especially relating to heavy      gasification of lignites and biomass, and the gasification
vehicles. In countries like Australia where much freight is    and pyrolysis of wastes for fuels and energy production
transported by truck over very large distances, reducing       are being investigated.
drag can make significant fuel savings and dramatically
reduce carbon emissions.                                       Geothermal energy
                                                               The extraction of heat from deep earth has been a
Bio-conversion                                                 promising technology, but so far has proved too inefficient
Bio-conversion can offer a broad range of renewable,           to ne economically viable. Most approaches use water
low-carbon energy services such as transport fuel like         as the working fluid – heat is absorbed into the water
biodiesel and bioethanol, and also biomass or biogas for       when large quantities are pumped through the geothermal
combustion in power stations for generating electricity.       resource; but overall recovery of heat is low and significant
In these processes, it is even possible to sequestering        amounts water are not recovered. Current research is
carbon dioxide, making bioenergy a net carbon sink. We         investigating the use of CO2 as an alternative to water.
have developed capabilities in second-generation biofuels
with feedstocks based on municipal waste, microalgae           Mining
and biomass. Core expertise in this area includes catalytic
conversion for fuels production and discovering/designing      While mining for fossil fuels will be phased out, mining
enzymes for specific and fast reactions as isolated bio-       remains a critical industry for sourcing the raw materials
catalysts.                                                     needed for the world’s economy, even for the materials
                                                               to build the renewable energy infrastructure required
                                                               to decarbonise the energy system. Research in mining
Hydrogen                                                       includes investigating the potential to retrieve critical
The uncertainty in future oil production and the long          minerals from Australia’s base and precious metal mines
term need to transition away from carbon-emitting fuel         and mineral resources. Critical minerals are economically
sources has sparked a global interest in a hydrogen-           important and assessed as being at risk of supply
fuelled economy. Our researchers have a long history in        disruption, which would lead to significant economic,
hydrogen production through electrolysis, photochemical        environmental and/or social impacts. These minerals
water splitting and brown coal gasification. In addition to    are required for a range of applications including in
hydrogen, Monash has a developing area of research in          the production of renewable energy (e.g. rare earths,
ammonia production. Ammonia can be considered as a             tellurium).
suitable carrier of hydrogen, as well as having a variety of
important agricultural uses.

CO2 capture, storage, and use
Coal has long been the main energy source driving
the social and economic development of Australia and
meeting the energy needs of a growing world economy.
However, when use for electricity generation, coal
is a major carbon dioxide emissions source. We are
working on drastically cutting the emissions from coal
power stations by investigating improved methods for
including advanced de-watering technologies, gasification
processes, carbon capture technologies (both pre- and
post-combustion), and chemical looping processes.

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ARC CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

ACEX                                                          ACES                                                         FLEET

The Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (ACEx)            At the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials         The ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy
is funded by the Australian Research Council to bring         Science (ACES), we turn our fundamental knowledge            Electronics Technologies (FLEET) is developing electronic
together researchers and industry to discover new ways        of cutting-edge materials into the next generation of        devices that operate at ultra-low energy, enabling
to source and use energy.                                     ‘smart devices’ for the benefit of the community. But        revolutionary new technologies to drive future electronics
                                                              what exactly does that mean? We think of a smart device      and computing, while meeting society’s demand for
We are a collaboration of the best researchers in Australia   as a game-changing application, utilising the advanced       reduced energy consumption.
at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT,      materials we make in our laboratories to create new health
University of NSW and the University of Sydney. We work       and energy solutions that improve people’s lives.            FLEET is linking a highly interdisciplinary team of high-
with our Industry Partners – Reserve Bank of Australia,                                                                    profile Australian and international researchers in atomic
CSIRO, Melbourne Centre of Nanofabrication and the            Our Centre of Excellence incorporates collaborators from     physics, condensed matter physics, materials science,
Department of Defence: Defence Science & Technology           across Australia and the world, known for their expertise    electronics, nanofabrication, and atomically thin materials.
Group – to transform our research into practice.              in advanced materials and device fabrication. ACES is
                                                              generating options for the future, with our researchers      With over $40M investment from the ARC and
We research better ways to manipulate the way light           creating new knowledge to deal with some of the great        contributing organisations, FLEET is poised to make
energy is absorbed, transported and transformed in            challenges of the 21st century.                              significant global impact in the electronics and energy
advanced molecular materials to find innovative solutions                                                                  sectors. By building strategic and strong partnerships with
for renewable energy in solar energy conversion, energy-      For more information visit                                   Australian and international industry, research institutions
efficient lighting and displays, and security labelling and   electromaterials.edu.au                                      and government, FLEET aims to build capacity for
optical sensor platforms for defence. We are aiming for                                                                    advanced electronics research in Australia and train the
a future where all types of light transform into renewable                                                                 workforce for the next generation of electronic materials
energy.                                                                                                                    researchers and future semiconductor industry.

For more information visit                                                                                                 For more information visit
excitonscience.com                                                                                                         fleet.org.au

20      MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                             MONASH ENERGY PROFILE   21
FACILITIES

                                RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY                                         FUTURE CONTROL ROOM
                                The Renewable Energy Laboratory is a custom-built facility          The Future Control Room (FCR) is a co-creation between the
                                for the development of printed, thin-film solar cells from lab      Monash Energy Institute, Grid Innovation Hub (GIH), the Faculty of
                                to pre-commercial sizes. The facility integrates closely with       IT, the Faculty of Engineering, and MIVP.
                                CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron, and Melbourne Centre for
                                Nanofabrication.

                                                                                                    CAVE2™
                                SOLAR FUELS LABORATORY                                              The Monash CAVE2™ is an immersive hybrid 2D and 3D virtual
                                                                                                    reality environment. It allows researchers to visualise, manipulate
                                The Solar Fuels Laboratory is focused on developing new             and comprehend data such as engineering models and multi-
                                materials that can generate hydrogen from water and be used in      dimensional images across a range of size scales and simulations.
                                next-generation fuel cells. The laboratory is supported by state-
                                of-the-art facilities capable of synthesising, characterising and
                                testing novel and existing photo-catalytic materials.
                                                                                                    MONASH CENTRE FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
                                                                                                    (MCAM)
                                DEEP EARTH ENERGY RESEARCH LABORATORY                               MCAM has world-leading expertise in all the light metals
                                                                                                    and houses the world’s latest equipment for 3D printing of
                                This laboratory is investigating new techniques for extraction of
                                                                                                    components from metallic powders.
                                deep earth energy resources using one of the world’s largest
                                high-pressure, high-temperature testing chambers.

                                                                                                    MONASH WIND TUNNEL FACILITY (MWTF)
                                LOW EMISSION COAL TECHNOLOGIES                                      Open to industry partners, researchers and students, MWTF is
                                LABORATORY                                                          the largest wind tunnel in the southern hemisphere. The facility
                                                                                                    enables aerodynamic and wind noise research and development.
                                This laboratory is equipped to investigate improved methods
                                for producing energy from brown coal through coal drying,
                                coal gasification, production of concentrated CO2 streams, and
                                simultaneous capture of CO2 and production of hydrogen.             MONASH CENTRE FOR ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
                                                                                                    (MCEM)
                                                                                                    MCEM provides a world-leading suite of advanced electron
                                                                                                    microscopy techniques that can determine the composition,
                                                                                                    structure and bonding of materials down to the atomic scale.
                                                                                                    Such facilities underpin the development of new energy materials
                                                                                                    and devices.

                                                                                                    For more information visit
                                                                                                    monash.edu/energy-institute/facilities

22   MONASH ENERGY PROFILE
ENERGY RESEARCHERS AT MONASH
                             This list is a selection of researchers’ profiles, which aims to showcase the
                             breadth of capabilities in the field of energy at Monash University, based on the
                             information available at the time of publication. Profiles are broadly grouped
                             in areas of end use application including consumers, energy resources, fuels,
                             markets and policy, materials and devices, and smart energy systems.

24   MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                         MONASH ENERGY PROFILE         25
CONSUMERS

Abby Wild                                     Professor Daniel Prajogo                  Dr Darren Sharp                          Professor Diego Ramirez-lovering          Professor Erte Xiao                      Associate Professor Gillian Oliver

MONASH SUSTAINABLE                            FACULTY OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS           MONASH SUSTAINABLE                       FACULTY OF ART,                           FACULTY OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS          FACULTY OF
DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE                         MANAGEMENT                                DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE                    DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE                     DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS                  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BEHAVIOURWORKS AUSTRALIA                                                                                                         ARCHITECTURE                                                                       HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)
                                              E: daniel.prajogo@monash.edu              E: darren.sharp@monash.edu                                                         E: erte.xiao@monash.edu
E: abby.wild@monash.edu                                                                                                          E: diego.ramirez@monash.edu                                                        E: gillian.oliver@monash.edu

Abby Wild has a diverse career in             Professor Daniel Prajogo research         Dr Darren Sharp is a Research            Professor Diego Ramirez-lovering’s        Professor Erte Xiao’s research applies   Associate Professor Gillian Oliver
research and consulting that has              interest areas are mainly focused on      Fellow at the Monash Sustainable         research examines the contributory        experimental methods to understand       leads the Digital Equity research and
spanned the US, the UK, Singapore             quality, operations, supply chain, and    Development Institute where he is        role that design, and design thinking     how incentives and social norms          teaching group. Her research interests
and Australia, Abby has conducted             innovation management. He has over        Research Coordinator of the Net          can play in addressing the significant    influence economic behavior. Before      centre on information culture, the
research, program evaluation and              100 publications, including journal       Zero Precincts program and Chief         challenges facing contemporary            joining Monash University, she was an    influences of values and behaviours
communications work across a range            articles, conference papers, edited       Investigator of the Water-Energy-        urban environments, climate change,       assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon   on the ways that information is
of projects and clients. She has a            research books, book chapters, and        Food Nexus project. Darren is a          resource limitations and rapid            University and a post-doctoral fellow    managed in organisational settings.
strong working practice of quantitative       industry reports. He was listed as        sustainability transitions researcher    population growth with a key focus        at the University of Pennsylvania.       She is co-author of Records
and qualitative methods and                   one of the top 25 SCM scholars in         interested in urban experimentation,     on the Global South and through                                                    Management and Information Culture:
extensive experience with surveys,            Asia by a research paper published        grassroots innovation and the sharing    a lens of planetary health. Diego is      Expertise                                Tackling the People Problem (Facet,
interviewing and facilitating focus           in International Journal of Production    economy. He co-led a living lab in       the director of the Informal Cities       Behavioural/experimental, applied        2014) and Digital Curation, 2nd ed
groups. Abby has an undergraduate             Economics. In his research, he has        Melbourne that used action research      Lab (ICL). The Lab undertakes             micro                                    (ALA, 2016) and Co-editor in Chief of
degree in neuroscience and history            built collaborations with international   to empower local residents to            design-based research exploring the                                                Archival Science.
from Harvard (USA). She obtained              academics, and industry associations      reduce their carbon emissions at an      conditions of informality in developing
an M.Phil. in Criminological Research         in Australia which have funded the        individual, household and community      cities with specific focus on the                                                  Expertise
at Cambridge University (UK). Abby            research projects, including Joint        level. Darren’s research speaks to       Asia-Pacific. ICL research – designed                                              Organisational and social informatics,
returned to Cambridge on a Gates              Accreditation System of Australia and     the possibilities of social learning,    and conducted in collaboration with                                                information culture, values and
Scholarship for her PhD, which she is         New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) and Institute       institutional arrangements, community    government and industry – strives                                                  behaviours
currently completing.                         for Safety, Compensation, and             agency and new urban imaginaries         for impact, purposefully targeting
                                              Recovery Research (ISCRR).                to drive the transformation of cities    implementation at the intersection of
Expertise                                                                               towards sustainability.                  academic research and international
Social inclusion, social connectedness        Expertise                                                                          development.
and social disadvantage, prison               Quality management, operations and        Expertise
sociology, narrative criminology and          supply chain management, innovation       Transition management, sustainability    Expertise
religious life in prisons, feminist theory,   management, strategic management          transitions, urban experimentation,      Informal settlements, urban design,
biophilic design, justice architecture                                                  grassroots innovation, the sharing       affordable housing
                                                                                        economy, living labs, action research,
                                                                                        community economies

26       MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                                                             MONASH ENERGY PROFILE        27
CONSUMERS

Dr Jathan Sadowski                        Dr Jim Curtis                            Dr Julia Meis-Harris                       Dr Kari Dahlgren                           Dr Larissa Nicholls                         Dr Larry Stillman

FACULTY OF                                MONASH SUSTAINABLE                       MONASH SUSTAINABLE                         FACULTY OF                                 FACULTY OF                                  FACULTY OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY                    DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE                    DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE                      INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY                     INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY                      INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)             BEHAVIOURWORKS AUSTRALIA                 BEHAVIOURWORKS AUSTRALIA                   HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)              HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)               HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)

E: Jathan.Sadowski@monash.edu             E: james.curtis@monash.edu               E: julia.meis@monash.edu                   E: kari.dahlgren@monash.edu                E: larissa.nicholls@monash.edu              E: larry.stillman@monash.edu

Dr Jathan Sadowski is a research          Dr Jim Curtis’ research focuses          Dr Julia Meis-Harris’ research interests   Dr Kari Dahlgren is a Research             Dr Larissa Nicholls’ human-                 Dr Larry Stillman’s research interests
fellow in the Emerging Technologies       on gaining an intimate, theoretical,     lie in the area of environmental and       Fellow in the Emerging Technologies        computer interaction research               include community informatics and
Research Lab. His work focuses            and applied understanding of the         social psychology, environmentally         Research Lab working on the Digital        includes smart home, distributed            development informatics in urban
on the political economy and              influences impacting on the behaviour    sustainable behaviour and climate          Energy Futures Project. Kari is a social   electricity generation, and other digital   or rural settings in Australia and the
social impacts of digital systems.        of a range of target audiences,          change, and consumer behaviour and         anthropologist and ethnographer            technologies. Her applied research          Global South. He has conducted
He is interested in understanding         leading and collaborating on teams       the influence of economic inequality       interested in the social and ethical       projects involve in-home ethnographic       research with the Council for Scientific
the interests and imperatives that        across over 80 projects. Jim has         on prejudice toward immigrants.            aspects of energy production and           research to explore interactions            and Industrial Research, South Africa,
influence how technologies are            acquired an intimate understanding       During her PhD she worked on               consumption in Australia.                  between energy (technologies, usage,        on the development of internet kiosks
designed and why they are used.           of how the public sector interacts       various behaviour change projects                                                     pricing, communications) and social,        for poor urban and rural communities
                                          with research, working with multiple     in cooperation with BWA as well as         Expertise                                  physical and financial wellbeing.           in Africa, and has been closed
Expertise                                 government partners in Victoria and      other entities, such as the review of      Energy Futures, digital technologies,      Larissa specialises in bringing             involved with the PROTIC project
Smart technology, digital technology,     New South Wales. He has witnessed        innovative P-Turn intersections for        mining, ethnography                        deeper understandings of household          with Oxfam in Bangladesh since
automation, data and society, political   and experienced the different ways       VicRoads and a review of energy use                                                   practices and concerns into Australia’s     2014. This project is concerned with
economy, inequality, urban geography,     that research can be applied to inform   and sustainable housing practices for                                                 ongoing policy debates about                the social well-being of marginalised
social theory                             program design and policy shifts,        the NSW Office of Environment and                                                     energy affordability, sustainability        communities (farmers, fisherfolk,
                                          and is committed to applying these       Heritage. She is particularly interested                                              and reliability. The impacts of energy      the urban underclass) and their use
                                          learnings.                               in the drivers of various environmental                                               policy and emerging technologies            of mobile technology for income
                                                                                   and pro-social behaviours that impact                                                 for vulnerable and disadvantaged            generation and community wellbeing
                                          Expertise                                everyday life.                                                                        households are a key research focus.        in response to grand environmental
                                          Behaviour change, psychology,                                                                                                  Her industry research supports              and economic challenges. He
                                          environment and sustainability,          Expertise                                                                             consumer advocacy and energy                favours qualitative and engaged
                                          environment, policy, management          Consumer behaviour change,                                                            organisation decision-making towards        social-technical research, and the
                                                                                   consumer psychology, inequality                                                       better outcomes for households.             transmission of research knowledge
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     to local partners.
                                                                                                                                                                         Expertise
                                                                                                                                                                         Energy futures, demand-side                 Expertise
                                                                                                                                                                         mangement, smart home, smart                Community and development
                                                                                                                                                                         grid, digital sociology, digital            informatics, tools for change in
                                                                                                                                                                         technologies, emerging technologies,        ngos, information and knowledge
                                                                                                                                                                         disadvantaged and diversity                 management, qualitative
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     methodologies

28      MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                                                               MONASH ENERGY PROFILE         29
CONSUMERS

Associate Professor Peter Bragge          Dr Rob Brimblecombe                        Professor Sarah Pink                      Dr Shirui Pan                             Dr Xin Ma                             Associate Professor
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Yolande Strengers
MONASH SUSTAINABLE                        MONASH CLIMATE CHANGE                      FACULTY OF ART,                           FACULTY OF                                FACULTY OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE                     COMMUNICATION RESEARCH HUB                 DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE                     INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY                    MANAGEMENT                            FACULTY OF
BEHAVIOURWORKS AUSTRALIA                  ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY                  EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LAB                 DATA SCIENCE AND AI                                                             INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
                                                                                                                                                                         E: xin.ma@monash.edu                  HUMAN CENTRED COMPUTING (HCC)
E: peter.bragge@monash.edu                E: rob.brimblecombe@monash.edu             E: sarah.pink@monash.edu                  E: shirui.pan@monash.edu
                                                                                                                                                                                                               E: yolande.strengers@monash.edu

Associate Professor Peter Bragge          Dr Rob Brimblecombe leads                  Professor Sarah Pink is the Director of   Dr Shirui Pan received a PhD degree       Dr Xin Ma’s research interests        Associate Professor Yolande
specialises in translating research       the University’s Engineering and           the Emerging Technologies Research        in data science from UTS, NSW,            include sustainable operations        Strengers is a digital sociologist and
evidence into practice and policy to      Sustainability team, including the         Lab at Monash. She is a world             Australia. He then worked as a            management, energy management,        human-computer interaction scholar
address challenges faced in health        development and delivery of the            leading Design Anthropologist, known      Research Fellow (from Aug 2015 to         revenue management, game theory,      investigating the sustainability and
and sustainable development. This         Net Zero Emissions Initiative and          for her development of innovative         June 2018) at the Centre for Artificial   and health care management.           gender effects of digital, emerging
involves identifying, appraising          operational Circular Economy               digital, visual and sensory research      Intelligence (CAI), School of Software,   His publications have appeared        and smart technologies. At Monash,
and cataloguing research                  Strategy. Over the last ten years he       and dissemination methodologies,          UTS. Prior to Monash, Shirui Pan          in journals such as Decision          she leads the energy futures theme in
evidence, exploring the practice          has directed the University’s Energy       which she engages in interdisciplinary    was a Lecturer and a Chancellor’s         Sciences, European Journal of         the Emerging Technologies Research
context through consultation with         management and procurement                 projects with design, engineering         Postdoc Research Fellow at University     Operational Research, International   Lab, which undertakes critical
practitioners and policymakers, and       activities, lectured in building science   and creative practice disciplines to      of Technology Sydney (UTS). To            Journal of Production Economics,      interdisciplinary and international
consulting on intervention design         and renewable energy systems,              engage with contemporary issues           date, Dr Pan has published over 50        International Journal of Production   research into the social, cultural and
and implementation. As Director of        supervised applied research projects       and challenges. She has over 20           research papers in top-tier journals      Research, Computers & Operations      experiential dimensions of the design,
Health Programs for BehaviourWorks        in sustainable development and             years experiences of working with         and conferences, including the IEEE       Research, Journal of Cleaner          use and futures of new and emerging
Australia, Peter manages partnerships     co-authored the book ‘Positive             academic and industry research            Transactions on Neural Networks           Production, and IEEE Transactions     technologies. Yolande works with
with a number of government and           Energy Homes’. He has a PhD in             partners internationally and frequently   and Learning Systems (TNNLS), IEEE        on Engineering Management. Before     qualitative and digital ethnographic
other agencies. Peter also leads          Photo-electrolysis (solar hydrogen)        gives keynote and public lectures in      Transactions on Knowledge and Data        joining Monash he was Lecturer of     methods, theories of social practice
Monash Sustainable Development            and before taking up his position          academic and business environments        Engineering (TKDE), IEEE Transactions     Engineering Management (Education     and techno-feminism to understand
Institute’s collaboration with McMaster   a Monash, completed a Fulbright            internationally. She has published        on Cybernetics (TCYB), ICDE, AAAI,        and Research) at the College of       how people use new technologies.
University in Canada to build Social      Fellowship at Princeton University         numerous academic books, peer             IJCAI, ICDM, SDM, PAKDD.                  Engineering, and Mathematics and
Systems Evidence – the world’s            and a postgraduate fellowship and          referred journal articles and book                                                  Physical Sciences at University of    Expertise
largest evidence resource for the         Monash University, with publications       chapters.                                 Expertise                                 Exeter.                               Sustainability and gender effects
Sustainable Development Goals.            in leading peer reviewed journals.                                                   Machine learning and energy time                                                of digital, emerging and smart
                                                                                     Expertise                                 series forecasting                        Expertise                             technologies
Expertise                                 Expertise                                  Emerging intelligent technologies,                                                  Energy and low-carbon management,
Evidence-based policy and practice,       Photo-electrolysis, renewable energy       automation, data, digital futures,                                                  supply chain and sustainable
behaviour change                          systems, building science                  safety and design for wellbeing                                                     operations management, pricing and
                                                                                                                                                                         revenue management

30      MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                                                         MONASH ENERGY PROFILE        31
ENERGY RESOURCES

Professor Abdelmalek Bouazza            Associate Professor                     Professor Alan Chaffee                     Dr Alexandr N Simonov                     Associate Professor                        Dr Asadul Haque
                                        Akshat Tanksale                                                                                                              Andrew Hoadley
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                                                          FACULTY OF SCIENCE                         FACULTY OF SCIENCE                                                                   FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING                       FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                  SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY                        SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY                       FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                     CIVIL ENGINEERING
                                        CHEMICAL ENGINEERING                                                                                                         CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
E: malek.bouazza@monash.edu                                                     E: alan.chaffee@monash.edu                 E: alexandr.simonov@monash.edu                                                       E: asadul.haque@monash.edu
                                        E: akshat.tanksale@monash.edu                                                                                                E: andrew.hoadley@monash.edu

Professor Abdelmalek Bouazza            Associate Professor Akshat Tanksale     Professor Alan Chaffee’s research          Dr Alexandr Simonov leads a Solar         Associate Professor Andrew Hoadley         Dr Asadul Haque has been
has an international reputation         leads the Catalysis for Green           embraces investigating ways of             Fuels group who undertake research        is passionate about designing              conducting research in two major
for research in geosynthetics and       Chemicals group where his interest      more efficient uses of coal and how        in the sustainable synthesis of green     processing plants for better               areas: critical infrastructure and
environmental geotechnics. His          is in the field of heterogeneous        carbon dioxide emissions can be best       fuels – hydrogen and ammonia,             environmental performance. He is           carbon-sequestration. His work on
research has been recognised by a       catalysis for conversion of CO2 and     controlled. He is also investigating       from renewables. The group brings         particularly interested in assisting       biochar carbon sequestration in soils
number of awards including, recently,   biomass into fuels and chemicals        developing renewable fuels to              together specialists in chemistry,        with the reduction in carbon footprint     and protecting infrastructure in acid
the 2018 International Geosynthetics    using nanomaterials. He has recently    replace coal and the concern about         materials science and engineering         of chemical and energy systems             sulphate soils (ASS) are of significant
Society Award. Professor Bouazza        been appointed the Theme Leader for     environmental consequences of using        who aim to design high-performance        through better integration and the         contributions. He is the recipient
is very prominent in technical and      the Carbon Capture, Conversion and      coal. Victoria has an abundance of         electromaterials for emerging             use of renewable energy. He is also        of many industry and national
professional society activities and     Utilisation Theme of the Woodside       brown coal and with the support of         photovoltaic and electrocatalytic         an active researcher in the fields of      competitive grants and has published
serves on a number of international     Monash Energy Partnership.              a Research Leader Fellowship from          applications and understand the           dewatering and steam drying, and           more than 85 papers. Dr Haque
technical committees. Currently,        He believes that innovating new         Brown Coal Innovation Australia, Alan      mechanisms of their operation. One        related to these areas, he is interested   worked as the Director of Teaching
he is the Chair of the International    processes and designing novel           is seeking new uses for this ‘massive      of key features of their research         in the upgrading of waste materials,       of Civil Engineering (2014-2015)
Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical         heterogeneous catalysts at the          resource’ and improved ways of             is the development of the in situ         industrial ecology and sustainability.     and provided leadership to develop
Engineering (ISSMGE) Technical          nanoscale is the key for developing     dealing with it. This includes obtaining   and operando methods for the              He is an active member of the              quality learning and teaching practices
Committee TC 215 on Environmental       low carbon emission alternative fuels   chemicals from coal, and finding           characterisation of electromaterials in   Education Special Interest Group of        through development of new policies
Geotechnics and the Secretary           and chemicals. Recent achievements      methods of extracting the moisture         action. The group actively interacts      the Institution of Chemical Engineers.     and procedures. He is the program
of ISSMGE TC308 on Energy               from A/Prof Tanksale’s research         that don’t themselves use high levels      with the emerging and established                                                    leader of the off-campus master
Geotechnics.                            group include conversion of CO2 into    of energy.                                 Australian companies within the           Expertise                                  of infrastructure engineering and
                                        diesel range liquid fuels using novel                                              renewable energy sector.                  Carbon capture and utilisation,            management program at Monash.
Expertise                               metal organic framework catalysts.      Expertise                                                                            dewatering processes, multi-objective
Geothermal systems                      Using this technology CO2 and green     Lignite-water interactions, mechanical     Expertise                                 optimisation, process plant design         Expertise
                                        H2 from water electrolysis can be       thermal expression                         Electrocatalysis, electromaterials,       and renewable energy integration           Geo-materials, X-ray, CT imaging,
                                        combined to make renewable fuels                                                   photovoltaics, renewable hydrogen,                                                   carbon sequestration
                                        with zero net carbon emission.                                                     renewable ammonia

                                        Expertise
                                        Biofuels, catalysis, hydrogen
                                        production and storage

32      MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                                                          MONASH ENERGY PROFILE        33
ENERGY RESOURCES

Associate Professor                     Dr Daniel Edgington-Mitchell            Graham Palmer                            Professor Gregory Sheard                    Dr Ha Hong Bui                           Professor Hugh Blackburn
Chris Greening
                                        FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                  FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                   FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                      FACULTY OF ENGINEERING                   FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES           MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE                MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE                 MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE                    CIVIL ENGINEERING                        MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE
MICROBIOLOGY                            ENGINEERING                             ENGINEERING                              ENGINEERING                                                                          ENGINEERING
                                                                                                                                                                     E: ha.bui@monash.edu
E: chris.greening@monash.edu            E: daniel.mitchell@monash.edu           E: graham.palmer@monash.edu              E: greg.sheard@monash.edu                                                            E: hugh.blackburn@monash.edu

Associate Professor Chris Greening      Dr Daniel Edgington-Mitchell works      Dr Graham Palmer is a researcher         Professor Greg Sheard leads a               Dr Ha Bui’s major research interests     Professor Hugh Blackburn’s principal
uses his understanding of microbial     as a researcher in the Laboratory for   with an industry background as           research team specialising in high-         are in the areas of computational        research area is the physics of
energetics to tackle key problems       Turbulence Research in Aerospace        an engineer and researcher in            order computational methods for the         mechanics and material modelling         unsteady flows and associated
in sustainable development and          and Combustion. He received his         manufacturing, HVAC and electronics.     simulation and analysis of fluid flow       with particular focus on large           computational methods. He is a
planetary health. Following an          undergraduate degrees in Mechanical     He has published in the area of          and heat transfer. His work seeks to        deformation and failure of               Fellow of the Institution of Engineers
undergraduate in Molecular and          and Aerospace Engineering from          biophysical economics, renewable         explain how instability and turbulence      geomaterials. He leads the Monash        Australia and of the Australasian
Cellular Biochemistry (University of    Monash University in 2005. During       energy, life-cycle analysis, and         develop from smooth flows – so              Computational Geomechanics (MCG)         Fluid Mechanics Society. He holds
Oxford, 2010), he completed a PhD       his PhD, he undertook graduate          energy-economic modelling. Graham        critical to mixing and heat transport       Lab. He worked as a Research Fellow      a BE from UniSA and a PhD from
focused on hydrogen metabolism in       research in the High Temperature        obtained his PhD in the area of          – and the modifying roles played            at the Department of Civil Engineering   Monash, in the area of bluff body fluid
mycobacteria (University of Otago,      Gas Dynamics Laboratory at Stanford     energy-return-on-investment (EROI).      by buoyancy and electromagnetic             at Ritsumeikan University. His           mechanics. Prior to commencing
2014). His group researches the         University under the auspices of        His current research interests include   forces on these phenomena. Current          research focused on the development      his PhD at Monash he worked as
energetic processes that allow          a Fulbright Fellowship from 2008-       the future roles of energy storage       interests include horizontal heat           of advanced numerical methods to         a consulting engineer for Kinhill
bacteria to regulate greenhouse         2009. He was awarded his PhD from       systems.                                 transport in natural convection flows       model large deformation and flow         Engineers, and CSIRO where he
gas cycling, maintain biodiversity in   Monash University in 2013.                                                       modeling global ocean currents, and         failure of geomaterials.                 carried out both fundamental and
extreme environments, and cause                                                 Expertise                                the destabilisation of liquid metal flows                                            applied research in fluid dynamics.
infectious diseases. A key focus is     Expertise                               Energy storage and conversion,           under strong magnetic fields for viable     Expertise
hydrogen and methane metabolism.        Aeroacoustics, fluid mechanics, high    hydrogen production and storage          heat extraction from future magnetic        Computational mechanics, material        Expertise
He has published in leading journals    speed propulsion, jet noise                                                      confinement fusion reactors.                modelling with particular focus on       Physics of unsteady flows and
including Nature, and has been                                                                                                                                       large deformation and failure of         associated computational methods
awarded fellowships from the CSIRO,                                                                                      Expertise                                   geomaterials
ARC, and NHMRC.                                                                                                          Fluid mechanics, natural convection,
                                                                                                                         heat transfer, magnetohydrodynamics,
Expertise                                                                                                                MHDQuasi-2D flows, flow stability,
Bioenergetics, biohydrogen, microbial                                                                                    linear stability analysis, transient
biochemistry, microbial genetics,                                                                                        growth, rotating flows, swirling flows,
microbial ecology, greenhouse gases                                                                                      polar vortex instability, wake flows

34      MONASH ENERGY PROFILE                                                                                                                                                                                        MONASH ENERGY PROFILE         35
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