Research

A new study from Stanford University and Cornell University shows that blue hydrogen can produce more greenhouse emissions than heat produced by coal and gas. The modelling classifies blue hydrogen emissions as carbon dioxide and unburned fugitive methane, as well as lifecycle emissions linked to the mining, transport, storage, and use of methane.

Alan Tudge, Australia’s Minister for Education and Youth, last week announced new grant outcomes under the ARC Future Fellowships scheme. Recipient Professor Anita Ho-Baillie will directly apply her work on perovskite durability and resilience to more cost effectively powering the world’s space endeavours.

The tiny Tasmanian town of Derwent Bridge could provide a big boost for the state’s solar PV energy credentials with the small community to play host to a microgrid project that will evaluate how to better meet the energy needs of Australians living in regional and remote areas.

The CSIRO is pushing the limits of flexible solar PV cells, partnering with Australian start-up Space Machines Company to test the technology in space.

A bp Australia study partially supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has confirmed the technical feasibility of large-scale renewable hydrogen and ammonia production for export in Australia, particularly in Western Australia’s Mid-West. However, the development of such an industry, says bp, requires strong government policy support, including a carbon price or emissions cap.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have devised a method that increases hydrogen production up to three times while significantly lowering the energy required for water electrolysis.

Scientists in Canada evaluated the potential of a lesser-known approach to boosting solar generation efficiency. Thermionics uses heat from the sun to generate electricity, and could be combined with photovoltaics to create devices with better than 40% efficiency from a single junction. In their evaluation, the scientists find promising pathways for further research, despite a mountain of challenges that will need to be overcome.

The world authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has issued its Sixth Assessment Report, the most scathing yet, declaring our current trajectory of global warming will reach 1.5C by 2030. The report makes clear the heightened climatic effects of climate change will only increase, with the transition to renewable energies our only hope.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales will look to improve the quality of advanced solar PV cells after the project secured a share of more than $1.5 million in the latest round of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Linkage Project Grants.

Producing nutrient-rich microbes with solar PV has the potential to produce more food with fewer resources, according to a German research group that modelled the large-scale production of microbial biomass by combining ground-mounted photovoltaics, air, water, and nutrients.