Skip to content
Energy, Environment

UNSW-led recycling and clean energy innovation program unveils first projects

UNSW Sydney 4 mins read

The Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) scheme boasts $117 million in industry co-funded R&D projects in its first year.

Hydrogen produced from seawater and ‘green ceramics’ created out of textile waste; these are just two among more than a dozen innovations being developed under the TRaCE program designed to accelerate the commercialisation of research and deliver skills for a circular, clean energy economy.

Led by UNSW Sydney in partnership with the University of Newcastle (UoN), the two universities have been working closely with industry partners since being awarded $50 million in funding under the Australian Government’s Trailblazer program in 2022.

A showcase of the TRaCE projects held in Sydney on 5 March revealed a range of disruptive new technologies which are in the process of being brought to market.

Assistant Minister for Education, Anthony Chisholm, who spoke at the launch of the TRaCE showcase, says the program will contribute to the creation of 5200 regional jobs and boost the economy by up to $15 billion over the next 20 years.

“TRaCE’s projects will help Australia and the world find new and effective ways to transition to sustainable recycling and clean energy solutions and systems,” Assistant Minister Chisholm said.

Professor Nicholas Fisk, UNSW Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Enterprise said the success of TRaCE points to the huge value add of industry, universities and government working together on research commercialisation.

“It is clear that the work coming out of TRaCE will be a significant contributor to achieving net zero by 2050. At UNSW as at UoN, we are at the forefront of supporting researchers in collaborating closely with industry to create and bring to market innovative technologies of long-run societal benefit, both quickly and efficiently,” Prof. Fisk said.

TRaCE supported innovations

Green ceramics

Working with UNSW Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, a TRaCE supported R&D project with Kandui Technologies is creating safe and sustainable bio-composites from waste textiles and mattresses, ‘green ceramics’, that can be used as alternatives to cut stone in kitchen benches and construction products.

“Our proven success in transforming other problematic waste into valuable source material for engineered products paved the way for our collaboration with Kandui,” says Prof. Sahajwalla.

“Using science and our revolutionary MICROfactorie™ waste-to-product technology, our engineers were able to develop a new generation of high performance, non-toxic, engineered bio-composites that can be used in buildings, as furniture and for various architectural and decorative applications.”

“What is especially exciting is that these Green Ceramics we have created from textile waste found in mattresses are providing a use for products that were not previously used in recycling due to contamination and material complexity,” she added.

The TRaCE support will now focus to provideadded dimension to scale the manufacturing of this product at scale, and diversify the product offering to benchtops commercial developments in addition to exploring additional waste steams as inputs.

Seawater hydrogen generation

Vecor Technologies is exploring advanced materials research and systems for hydrogen generation as part of the TRaCE program.

This includes research into improved processes for producing hydrogen from seawater, as a valuable resource for commercially viable renewable hydrogen generation.

Current technologies for hydrogen production using seawater require the use of expensive membranes to separate dissolved ions from seawater and produce pure water before splitting can take place.

Using dedicated research laboratories established by Vecor for research and product development in this field, UNSW’s Professor Charles Sorrell, Dr Yue Jiang, Associate Professor Pramod Koshy and Dr Sajjad Mofarah have developed novel catalytic materials for seawater splitting providing a safer means of hydrogen production.

Their process avoids the creation of highly toxic and corrosive chlorine gas ‒ previously a major disincentive into research into seawater splitting ‒ and also the generation of oxygen, preventing the danger of hydrogen and oxygen forming an explosive mixture.

“With the demand for hydrogen as a clean-burning energy resource growing exponentially, developing a competitive technical solution to seawater splitting will benefit the environment while creating jobs and investment opportunities for Australian and international energy providers,” said CEO Mark Ramsey, whose expansion into the clean and renewable energy sector is supported by the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy.

Renewable hydrogen

Professor Rose Amal, Associate Professor Jason Scott and their teams at UNSW are looking to demonstrate renewable hydrogen from waste techniques that can provide a viable waste-to-energy system to overcome water scarcity and waste management in remote areas.

“A distinct advantage of our technology is how it can overcome the need for a clean water source to produce renewable hydrogen through electrocatalytic water splitting,” says A/Prof. Scott, noting that the demand for clean water for drinking and agricultural purposes is high in many regional and remote communities that often experience drought.

“If we can use a waste stream to generate hydrogen in place of the clean water, we can distribute electrocatalytic water splitting for clean energy in various locations, including in those that are remote or subject to arid weather conditions. A further benefit is waste stream management.”

There is great potential for this research to benefit communities worldwide who could use their waste streams as a local resource to produce clean energy in the form of renewable hydrogen.

Building an ecosystem for the recycling & clean energy sector

In addition to the existing co-investments in R&D Projects, TRaCE will deploy an additiona l$67 million in transformative programs including R&D support, startups and SMEs funding, and education and skills training programs focused on supporting the development of critical skills and jobs required in the emerging energy economy.

“TRaCE’s mandate is to transform how universities work with industry to translate research into commercially viable products, in addition to building the skilled work force required,” says Executive Director Emmanuel Mastio.

“We are extremely focused and will deploy our resources around core technologies promising the highest Green House Gas emissions avoidance. This means treating technologies as ecosystems and strategically co-funding companies to build a critical mass in supply chains.”

Information on all programs can be found at trace.org.au


Contact details:

Media enquiries

For enquiries about this story and interview requests please contact Samantha Dunn, UNSW Sydney External Engagement.
Phone: +61 2 0414 924 364
Email: samantha.dunn@unsw.edu.au

Media

More from this category

  • Environment, Indigenous
  • 08/11/2024
  • 12:51
Camp Sovereignty

Indigenous Elder Demands Accountability from Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Australia for Genocide Against Aboriginal People

Media ReleaseEmbargoed 5am Monday 11 NovemberUncle Robbie Thorpe Demands Accountability from Attorney-General MarkDreyfus and Australia for Genocide Against Aboriginal PeoplesMelbourne, Victoria Indigenous Elder Demands Accountability from Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus “Genocide is a crime, not just globally, but right here in our backyard. If we areserious about stopping genocide around the world, we must start by eradicating ithere in so-called Australia. This nation cannot claim to be civilised if it allowsgenocide to continue unchecked, generation after generation” Uncle Robbie says. Krautatungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe has issued a powerful call to action,urging Australians to stop ignoring the genocide happening within their…

  • Environment, Legal
  • 08/11/2024
  • 12:27
NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)

BALD HILL QUARRY ORDERED TO PAY $577K FOR ILLEGAL TYRE USE

Bald Hill Quarry Pty Ltd has been ordered to pay more than $577,000 by the Land and Environment Court after pleading guilty to the unauthorised use of shredded rubber tyres as landfill cover material. The conviction comes after quarry personnel deliberately and repeatedly ignored instructions by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) not to use shredded tyres as cover material at its Jugiong landfill site, which increased the severity of a large fire at the landfill on 9 May 2022. Landfill ‘cover’ is a layer of material spread over landfilled waste to manage environmental impacts, including odours, water run-off and…

  • Contains:
  • Environment, Manufacturing
  • 08/11/2024
  • 12:03
Monash University

Media release: Monash University sets out roadmap for Australia’s circular economy revolution

Monash University is calling for Australia’s federal and state governments to take a bold leap on transitioning the nation to a sustainable and innovative circular economy. In a submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the circular economy, Monash has recommended a raft of policy, funding and regulatory settings that could make Australia the global leader in rethinking the lifecycle of everything we make, buy and dispose of. The university earlier this year launched Circular Economy Labs to provide evidence-based research and policy development to facilitate the transition to a circular economy, an economic system in which resource inputs, waste,…

Media Outreach made fast, easy, simple.

Feature your press release on Medianet's News Hub every time you distribute with Medianet. Pay per release or save with a subscription.