Energy and the Environment
Please visit our new dedicated Energy website here.
Newcastle Innovation delivers access to the University of Newcastle's world leading research in clean and renewable energy. Together we promote cleaner and more efficient utilisation of fossil fuels such as coal, develop next generation technologies for clean energy production and develop new energy efficient and sustainable processes for preservation of the environment.
The University of Newcastle has a dedicated Priority Research Centre (PRC) for Energy that aims to provide new opportunities from the interaction between industry, government agencies and university researchers interested in the growing field of clean and sustainable energy production. Energy related research is also conducted in the other research centres such as the PRC for Organic Electronics, PRC for Advance Particle Processing and Transportation and the ARC Centre for Complex Dynamic Systems and Control. Through research conducted in these centres and across the University, the University of Newcastle leads the world in areas such as clean coal combustion, mineral sequestration of CO2, micronised coal, efficient heat exchangers, organic photo voltaics, solar thermal electricity generation, efficient minerals processing and transportation technologies, and small-scale wind turbines and more. Many of these research capabilities and technologies are summarised below in the Research Capabilities section.
An example of a successful partnership in the Clean Energy sector is Granite Power. Newcastle Innovation assisted Granite Power in developing a research program that harnesses the geothermal expertise at the University of Newcastle. One outcome of the contracted research was a patentable heat exchanger which produces electricity much more efficiently without any greenhouse gas. This 'GRANEX' technology not only has applications in geothermal power generation, but it also has potential wide spread application for electricity production from low grade heat sources.
Demonstrating a strong environmental focus, the Energy and the Environment (EnE) program, lead by Associate Professor John Lucas, concentrates on sustainable and integrated waste processing and utilisation for energy recovery and generation. Other groups, such as The Tom Farrell Institute, focus on developing regional solutions for a sustainable future through the development and application of environmental knowldege with cultural, social and economic value.
Newcastle Innovation provides industry with direct access to the energy research centre's world-class academics and state of the art laboratories and equipment. By working closely with industry, Newcastle Innovation provides exceptionally high financial, social and environmental return on investment in clean and sustainable energy.
Link to Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment website
Link to Faculty of Science and Information Technology website
Research Capabilities
Straight from the Sun to a Powerpoint near you.
Researchers from the University of Newcastle are developing a new type of thermionic device to convert concentrated sunlight directly into electricity.Read more.
