Innovation at the Heart of Energy
By Ethan Hamilton
Coal runs deep in the veins of Hunter families. Jobs and economic futures are tied up in the region’s inevitable transition to renewable energy.
However, innovation and existing infrastructure within the Hunter are providing viable options for a renewable transition. A 2019 report by the Climate Council of Australia identified Newcastle and Muswellbrook as two of the state’s three leaders on climate action.
Martin Rush, the Mayor of Muswellbrook Shire, believes that along with the region’s proximity to already established grids and their natural wind resource, it is Muswellbrook’s investment in skills and research which has been a driving factor in this success.
He noted that: “The council is employing a number of strategies and partnerships such as STEM programs in schools and facilities at both the University and TAFE to ensure our region is equipped with the skills for a transition.”
These factors alone are not enough to drive a regional transition to renewable energy.
As University of Newcastle Professor of Local Government Roberta Ryan points out, changes such as these require innovation and community involvement.
“The technology is important, but actually it’s a values question in the end,” Professor Ryan said. “The way you do it is you have to have expertise and science that’s accepted; you have to be able to prosecute the arguments and people have to believe that this is the future.”
Looking past traditional renewable energy generation:
Because of the Hunter’s history as a coal-based energy producer, the region is well-equipped for a transition to renewable energy. This is according to Deputy Head of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle, Professor Steven Weller.
“We have a very strong network of transmission lines in the Hunter Valley which means that, as coal-fired power stations reach end of life, as they’re doing at the moment, the Hunter Valley is strongly placed as somewhere where it is natural to connect large-scale renewable energy sources to the network,” Professor Weller said.
Traditional forms of renewable energy generation have become common-place across Australia.
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However, technologies such as solar and wind rely heavily on the natural environment. Because of the intermittent nature of these sources, consumer demand more often than not doesn’t line up with generation peaks.
Source: Solarchoice
Source: Solarchoice
This is an issue Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined in an address which focused on the need for gas in grid stability, delivered to business and industry at Tomago in early September.
“Having a renewable future isn’t just about building a windmill, you’ve got to connect it up and you’ve got to ensure reliable power that firms it when the wind isn’t blowing,” Mr Morrison told listeners.
Professor Weller agrees with the current government, that hydrogen has a role to play in supplementing renewable energy demand. He also believes, however, that the ability to store renewably generated energy is pivotal.
“What we do need is a fundamental rethink on the way that the energy market operates and principally the need for storage,” Professor Weller said.
“Whilst our region is not very well placed for either solar or wind, I can see a place for possibly hydrogen and large-scale storage.”
The University of Newcastle has become a hub for renewable energy technology and innovation. Novel forms of renewable generation and storage being developed at the Uni, are providing answers for a stable, renewable transition both in terms of energy availability and economic viability.
Hydrogen Harvesting:
Hydrogen is emerging within Australia as a pre-eminent option for supplementing wind and solar energy.
When hydrogen reacts with oxygen it creates energy at a rapid rate, with the only bi-product being water. This process can be used in a range of ways, including electricity production and powering fuel cells.
Common processes used to create pure hydrogen involve either methane or coal, both of which result in the emission of greenhouse gasses. Innovation at the University of Newcastle has led to an environmentally sound hydrogen-extraction process.
Professor of Chemical Engineering Behdad Moghtaderi has pioneered a technology which is able to harvest hydrogen directly from the air. By first extracting pure water and separating the hydrogen through solar-powered electrolysis, Professor Moghtaderi and his team have been able to harvest “green hydrogen”.
Daniel Eschebach – Research Assistant at the University’s Priority Research Centre for Frontier Energy Technologies and Utilisation pictured with the “green hydrogen” extraction technology
Daniel Eschebach – Research Assistant at the University’s Priority Research Centre for Frontier Energy Technologies and Utilisation pictured with the “green hydrogen” extraction technology
“By extracting water directly from the atmosphere, you end up having a product which is almost like de-ionised water,” Professor Moghtaderi said.
“That tends to lower the overall energy demand because you no longer need pre- and post-treatment steps for the water.”
Electrolysis and hydrogen compression elements of the process.
Electrolysis and hydrogen compression elements of the process.
As well as being an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional hydrogen, green hydrogen can be used to create “green methane”. Currently under way is a ‘green methane project’, which is seeking to find an alternative to greenhouse-emitting energy sources.
“It’s with a couple of Australian companies and partly supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA),” Professor Moghtaderi said.
“As part of that project, the hydrogen that is produced is going to be used for green methane which is then injected directly into the existing gas pipeline.
“Made from renewable sources, Green Methane does not have the carbon footprint of traditional methane.”
According to the 2020 Australian Energy Update, in 2018-19 natural gas, of which methane is the primary component, made up about 28% of the country’s energy production.
Going beyond local consumption, Professor Moghtaderi believes that the Hunter has “all the ingredients to become a national hub for hydrogen”.
According to ARENA, the potential for hydrogen to be used in an export market.
The website reads: “When converted to a liquid or another suitable material, hydrogen can also be transported on trucks and in ships. This means hydrogen can also be exported overseas, effectively making it a tradable energy commodity.”
Professor Moghtaderi believes that hydrogen which is harvested through “green” processes such has his, is more appealing to an international market.
“Potential export to Japan and Korea is on the cards; both of these countries are saying we are after clean hydrogen,” Professor Moghtaderi said.
“We are really in the driving seat to be one of the hydrogen exporting countries.”
MGA Energy Storage Blocks:
Globally, a significant focus is being placed on new energy storage technologies which allow renewably generated energy to be stored and used in times of high consumer demand.
Professor Erich Kisi, who works in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, has led the development of a novel energy storage material.
The material is known as miscibility gap alloy (MGA) and is made up of two key components.
“There’s a component which holds it all together, which we call the matrix, and then within that there’s a component which is small particles, typically metals,” Professor Kisi said.
The matrix is composed primarily of carbon; this gives the material an ability to hold its form when heated. Blocks measuring 20cm x 20cm x 16cm are created from the material and these blocks have the ability to store renewably generated energy as heat.
They are outwardly solid; they can accept heat by conduction and move it around in a normal way like any other solid, but inside they have an amplified ability to absorb heat,” Professor Kisi said.
“Once the heat’s in there, you can store it for a really long time by having an insulated enclosure, and then the heat can be extracted to be used directly as heat, or it can be extracted to create steam and then run a turbine like in a power station.”
Professor Kisi described why the ability to store energy as heat is so important.
“Heat accounts for about 52% of our energy use worldwide and all forms of energy either are heat or travel through heat at some time,” Professor Kisi said. “Heat is particularly suitable for large-scale storage because the bigger it is, the more effective the insulation is.”
It is this quality of the MGA blocks, to store energy in such large capacities, which gives them the ability to be retrofitted into de-commissioned power stations. By adapting power stations which are expensive to both build and decommission, to this new technology, Professor Kisi believes the electricity industry would save a substantial amount of money and resources.
“It allows all of the infrastructure, except for the boiler where coal is converted into heat and smoke, to be reused,” he said.
With combined funding from CP Ventures (an Australian venture capital fund) and the federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Professor Kisi and his team are looking to establish a pilot manufacturing plant in Newcastle.
“The aim of that pilot is to be able to produce about a megawatt hour of storage a month,” Professor Kisi said. “We will be manufacturing locally and sourcing as much labour, and the premises and whatever raw materials are available locally.”
Provided the pilot plant is a success, the MGA blocks have the potential to create a significant export market for the Hunter.
Partnered with E2S, a Swiss company, which has developed the interface between the blocks and the power station, Professor Kisi and his team working on plans for 2021 to power a pilot station in Germany.
“The scale of it is 50 megawatt hours of storage, which is going to take about 300 tonnes of our material, so we need to scale up really fast,” Professor Kisi said.
Hear more about MGA Blocks in 'Renewing the Region', a podcast by Ethan Hamilton.
Beyond Zero Emissions:
Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) is an internationally recognised think tank on climate action operating out of Melbourne, which focuses specifically on the practical achievability of zero emissions in Australia. The organisation is currently working with business to establish an industrial precinct powered by renewable energy in the Hunter.
BZE’s Hunter Engagement Leader, Samantha Mella, said the precinct would be “a cluster of energy intensive industry, with different energy needs at different times powered renewably, to work as sort of an ecosystem”.
The industrial precinct works with BZE’s ‘Million Jobs Plan’ Aimed at creating jobs in the renewables sector, the plan could have a significant benefit for the Hunter.
A product at the core of the Million Jobs Plan is “green steel”. According to the government’s Resources and Energy Quarterly for March 2020, Australia is the world’s largest producer of iron ore.
According to BZE, if Australia’s resources were coupled with low-emissions processing, regions such as the Hunter could become a global exporter for green steel.
“There is a global demand for low emissions products,” Samantha Mella recognised.
“If we are quick and first movers, we have the opportunity to onshore that steel processing and employ more Australian people.
“As an energy exporting region, we already have these trade relationships with countries such as Japan and Korea.”
