Methane and nitrous oxide in agro-ecological systems: novel technologies and understandings to improve ecosystem management. Methane and nitrous oxide are critical greenhouse gases but globally we lack ecosystem scale analyses of the balance of emissions, including animal emissions, and soil oxidation. This project will quantify this balance for a range of agro-ecosystems, and explore and develop opportunities for improving soil-based Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mitigation measures.
Geological sequestration of carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers: coupled flow-mechanical considerations. Deep saline aquifers have been routinely proposed as sites for long-term, large-scale storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as an option to assist the abatement of global warming. This project investigates expected engineering behaviour of deep saline aquifer reservoirs and their stability following CO2 sequestration.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100040
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
Integrated Greenhouse Gas Measurement System (IGMS) for monitoring agricultural emissions at field to regional scales. Measurement of greenhouse gases is critical to Australia’s obligations to reduce carbon emissions. The measurement facility will provide urgently needed accurate emission data from Australian agriculture to establish emission baselines and develop methods to extend the point-scale measurements to whole farm, regional and national scales.
Managing Hydrate Formation for Viable CO2 and Energy Transport. Increasing the allowable water content during the pipeline transportation of carbon dioxide (CO2) would greatly increase the viability of carbon capture and storage but would also increase the risk of CO2-hydrate blockages. Subsea methane (CH4) hydrate sediments represent a tremendous new energy resource if blockages in production pipelines can be avoided. Conventional oil industry approaches to hydrate avoidance are of limited rele ....Managing Hydrate Formation for Viable CO2 and Energy Transport. Increasing the allowable water content during the pipeline transportation of carbon dioxide (CO2) would greatly increase the viability of carbon capture and storage but would also increase the risk of CO2-hydrate blockages. Subsea methane (CH4) hydrate sediments represent a tremendous new energy resource if blockages in production pipelines can be avoided. Conventional oil industry approaches to hydrate avoidance are of limited relevance and too expensive for these new applications. Formation probability distributions, cohesive forces and agglomeration tendencies of CO2 and CH4 hydrates are intended to be measured and integrated into predictive multi-phase flow models, enabling quantitative risk assessments of blockages in CO2 transport or hydrate production pipelines.Read moreRead less
Enhanced Weathering – a sustainable tool for CO2 Removal? This project aims to be the first to assess risks and co-benefits of Enhanced Weathering for marine pelagic ecosystems. Enhanced Weathering is a powerful tool that can reduce atmospheric CO2 with significant economic co-benefits. However, it perturbs seawater chemistry and associated impacts on marine ecosystems are unknown. This project expects to combine state-of-the-art field and laboratory research to reveal whether Enhanced Weatherin ....Enhanced Weathering – a sustainable tool for CO2 Removal? This project aims to be the first to assess risks and co-benefits of Enhanced Weathering for marine pelagic ecosystems. Enhanced Weathering is a powerful tool that can reduce atmospheric CO2 with significant economic co-benefits. However, it perturbs seawater chemistry and associated impacts on marine ecosystems are unknown. This project expects to combine state-of-the-art field and laboratory research to reveal whether Enhanced Weathering is a sustainable tool for CO2 Removal. The project provides significant benefits as it builds capacity within the currently emerging research field “ocean-based climate change solutions”. Within this capacity, it will help to identify a sustainable and economically viable future for Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100124
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,905.00
Summary
Safe long-term storage of carbon dioxide in coal seams with enhanced methane recovery. Climate change is upon us due to increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The capture and storage of CO2 emission in un-minable coal seams is an effective way to combat this. This projects aims to discover optimum measures to store CO2 in deep coal seams using enhanced coal-bed methane recovery.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101094
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Precision Spectroscopy of CO2 Exchange in Hydrates for Clean Energy Production. Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration is a widely considered climate change mitigation strategy. Clathrate hydrates of natural gas, found in deep-water ocean sediments, represent a tremendous opportunity for simultaneous carbon dioxide sequestration and clean energy production. By injecting carbon dioxide into the hydrate reservoir, methane can be displaced and replaced by carbon dioxide. This project will use Ram ....Precision Spectroscopy of CO2 Exchange in Hydrates for Clean Energy Production. Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration is a widely considered climate change mitigation strategy. Clathrate hydrates of natural gas, found in deep-water ocean sediments, represent a tremendous opportunity for simultaneous carbon dioxide sequestration and clean energy production. By injecting carbon dioxide into the hydrate reservoir, methane can be displaced and replaced by carbon dioxide. This project will use Raman spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance imaged core-flood experiments to develop a fundamental understanding of the exchange mechanisms governing the replacement of the methane molecule in the hydrate cage with carbon dioxide. This knowledge will be critical for future development of these resources to safely extract methane from sub-sea hydrates.Read moreRead less
Proppant transport in non-Darcy fracture flow for reservoir integrity/yield. Hydro-fracking of a typical gas well in Australia consumes around 3000 tonnes of proppants to keep open the created fractures, costing over $1.5 million. This project investigates proppant transport behaviour in non-Darcy turbulent flow during fracking of underground reservoir rock by combining Hele-Shaw-cell experiments with Particle Image Velocimetry and conceptual/numeric modelling. The generating advanced proppant t ....Proppant transport in non-Darcy fracture flow for reservoir integrity/yield. Hydro-fracking of a typical gas well in Australia consumes around 3000 tonnes of proppants to keep open the created fractures, costing over $1.5 million. This project investigates proppant transport behaviour in non-Darcy turbulent flow during fracking of underground reservoir rock by combining Hele-Shaw-cell experiments with Particle Image Velocimetry and conceptual/numeric modelling. The generating advanced proppant transport knowledge is expected to be more accurate than laminar flow-based theories currently relied on. Expected outcomes include more efficient/safer proppant-assisted fracking strategies to reduce wasteful proppant disposition and inform industry/government management of fracking based on the reservoir geological features.Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less
Risk assessment of climate change mitigation measures. This project will consider market based mechanisms for environmental protection policies and will have both a theoretical and a practical dimension. The main benefactors of the project will be environmental regulators and policy makers working in this area.