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Renewables and HydrogenProject Areas:
CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre CSIRO scientists will soon be taking advantage of Australia 's abundance of solar energy when construction of the National Solar Energy Centre (NSEC) is completed later this year. Located at the CSIRO Energy Centre site in Newcastle NSW, the NSEC will be a showcase for solar thermal technologies and play a key role in CSIRO's ongoing research into efficient, low emission energy generation. The NSEC will be the only multi-collector facility of its type in Australia and home to the largest high concentration solar array in the Southern Hemisphere. At peak operation it will generate enough electricity to power more than 100 homes. Find out more about the National Solar Energy Centre and how it's progressing here.
Our group has successfully demonstrated a process using solar energy to reform natural gas and produce a ‘solar gas’ that has approximately 25 percent more energy than the natural gas feeding in to the process. This product can increase gas pipeline energy density, provide low-emission localised power generation and, after gas cleaning, can be used in fuel cells to power vehicles.CSIRO scientists are also operating a state-of-the-art facility for ground-breaking solar energy research and product development. The National Solar Energy Technology Centre, part of the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle, will deliver advances in innovative solar technologies in collaboration with other national and international research institutes. Email:Wes Stein Hydrogen The challenge for the energy industry is how to source this fuel in an environmentally sustainable manner. Almost all hydrogen produced today is from the steam reforming of natural gas. The thermal energy for the process comes from the combustion of fossil fuel (in time, solar energy can replace this fossil fuel energy). Other fossil fuel sources such as coal and oil shale have also been investigated. Hydrogen can also be produced by splitting the water molecule (H2O) through electrolysis. Water to water - no waste, no emissions, continuous energy. Unfortunately, electrolysis requires substantial amounts of electricity, which would be expensive to supply from a renewable source. There are many other routes to hydrogen from renewable sources, such as photocatalysis, and these are under development. Email:David Rand The need for sustainable energy production and growing concerns about the cost and security of energy supply, both for power and transport, has led to a world-wide move to develop the hydrogen economy. We are working with governments and industry to examine the technical, economic, environmental and transition issues for the development of a hydrogen economy and develop world-class capabilities in the technologies relevant to this sustainable energy solution. The Energy Transformed Flagship is currently researching the application of Hydrogen fuels to power passenger vehicles. Email:David Rand Biomass As part of this work, we have developed a public database of biomass and organic matter fuel characteristics. It is unique in that it not only documents calorific value, proximates, ultimates and ash elemental analyses, but also provides an assessment of fouling and corrosion potential during combustion (either pure biomass or co-fired with coal) and gasification characteristics. Access Public Biofuel Database here. Email:Wes Stein
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