Research themes and projects
Research themes
Spanning fundamental technical and non-technical research all the way through to pilot and demonstration projects, the research objectives will deliver solutions for a lower carbon ecosystem that is competitive with current markets, scalable for bulk energy transport, value-adding through the creation of carbon products, and able to integrate with energy policy to enable a successful transition.
To deliver on the aspirations of the Woodside Monash Energy Partnership, the research objectives are structured into three focused research themes:
New energy technologies
High-efficiency and low-cost solutions to generate, store, and export carbon neutral energy, including hydrogen and its carriers.
Carbon capture, conversion and utilisation
Commercially sustainable solutions that reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions through chemical, thermal, and biological approaches.
Energy leadership
Understanding and enabling the interplay of economics, energy security, policy and governance on the transitioning energy system, including carbon markets.
Current research projects
New energy technologies
Liquid H2 Storage
Current liquid hydrogen storage tanks rely on complex double-shelled configurations with active cooling to minimise boil off. Critical to its operation is the need for vacuum in one of the shells to minimise thermal transfer. Scaling of such existing storage facilities presents a major challenge.
A systematic bottom-up approach was applied to determine an ideal hydrogen storage system. This included quantitative simulations, energy models and recommendations for structural and barrier materials for cryogenic liquid storage.
Project members: Dr Tom Hughes, Professor Jacek Jasieniak, Professor Greg Sheard, Dr Ashley Roberts, Dr Chun Kiu Ng, Dr Ghazal Avijegon
Efficient electrodes
Stage 2 of the seawater electrolysis program.
Project will design an electrolyser capable of splitting purified sea water to H2 and O2, by development of electrocatalysts.
Specific focus on the durability of new materials and overall system in intermittent mode of operation to enable efficient coupling to renewable energy sources.
Project members: Dr Alexandr N. Simonov, Professor Douglas R. Macfarlane, Dr Jitendra Joshi
Carbon capture, conversion and utilisation
Gas phase CO2 conversion
One of the most attractive options for CO2 utilisation into fuels and chemicals is through the conversion of CO2 into synthesis gas (CO+H2) via dry or tri-reforming of methane.
However, these reactions are highly endothermic, which along with the catalyst coking problem, pose challenges for large-scale application.
This work is determining the feasibility of novel heating to reduce the energy requirement, while incorporating state of the art catalysts.
Project members: Associate Professor Akshat Tanksale, Dr Jitendra Joshi, Solomon Faka, Associate Professor Matthew Hill, Professor Kiyonori Suzuki, Dr Lee Djumas, Dr Munir Sadiq, Hamza Asmat, Ngoc Bao Khanh Chau
Acetic acid production by CO2 conversion
Acetic acid is produced with high conversion and selectivity over novel metal organic framework catalyst.
Hydrocarbonylation reaction of methanol with CO2 and hydrogen as the reactants.
Project members: Rajan Lakshman, Associate Professor Akshat Tanksale, Professor Alan Chaffee, Dr Jitendra Joshi, Solomon Faka
Energy leadership
LCA: New energy flows and environmental assessment
A life cycle assessment methodology developed with consideration of environmental and energy flow impacts for assessment of new and emerging low energy technologies.
The framework enables a comparative assessment based on first order considerations of both impacts and energetics of the supply chain.
Project members: Professor Damon Honnery, Professor Andrew Hoadley, Dr Roger Dargaville, Dr Graham Palmer, Peter Metcalfe, Dr Ashley Roberts
Green energy on the global stage
A multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach to examine inter-related thematic dimensions that will impact the future green hydrogen market with reference to specific global regions.
Provides insights into policies, initiatives and market development for green hydrogen.
Supports decision-making for multinational firms and international operations.
Project members: Professor Fang Lee Cooke, Dr Xuan Zhu, Professor Paul Webley, Peter Metcalfe, Michael Lawrence, Stephan Modest
Economic fairways of grid-connected H2
Many assessments of hydrogen project viability focus on the evaluation of generic production costs independent
of location.
By assessment of geospatial factors and regional economic potential for grid-connected hydrogen projects, locations will be identified for the greatest opportunity for hydrogen development.
Project members: Dr Stuart Walsh, Dr Gordon Leslie, Dr Changlong Wang, Peter Metcalfe
Analysing the impact of carbon labelling and carbon neutral certificats on consumer behaviour
Focussed on carbon labelling schemes in the Australia energy sector.
Explores how market mechanisms, socio-economic factors and policy tools can influence sustainable consumer choices.
Project members:
Stephan Modest, Professor Srinivas Sridharan, Professor Fang Lee Cooke, Peter Metcalfe