New research centre 'an opportunity for our nation'

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation is officially launched at UNSW Sydney.

As world leaders gather at the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan to discuss the fate of the planet, a new Centre with a big mission was launched at UNSW Sydney.

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation is funded thanks to a $35 million contribution from Australian Research Council (ARC). It was established to find new, clean ways to develop green technologies for global decarbonisation. Its ambitious objective is to develop metal-free carbon-based products to generate clean chemicals and renewable energy with zero emissions.

Federal Assistant Minister and Member for Kingsford Matt Thistlethwaite officially opened the Centre. He said the effect of climate change was clearer than ever, with record ocean temperatures near Sydney, devastating floods in Europe, and rising sea levels in the Pacific. He told the launch that the world needed new, clean technologies, and fast.

“This centre of excellence around carbon science and innovation is vitally important, because your work will help tip the scales hopefully in favour of evidence-based science rather than ideology,” he said.

“The government that I'm a member of very much sees the work that you're performing here and climate change and the science of it as an opportunity for our nation. It's an opportunity to accept the science of climate change and to put in place plans to ensure that we're not only doing the right thing by particularly our neighbours, but that we're encouraging investment in new industries and creating new jobs for Australians.”

UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research & Enterprise, Professor Bronwyn Fox, said the new Centre would bring together world-leading researchers to tackle today’s energy and environmental challenges using pioneering carbon science.

“Securing an ARC Centre of Excellence is incredibly competitive, and is reflective of an incredibly high standard of research quality,” she said.

“This new centre aligns perfectly to UNSW’s strong commitment to collaboration across disciplines and institutions, working with industry to facilitate research and knowledge exchange, and addressing critical global challenges like the climate crisis.”

The UNSW-led Centre will involve researchers from seven Australian universities plus six industry and government organisations. International partners include universities and national laboratories in the UK, US, Europe and Asia. 

Scientia Professor Liming Dai from UNSW Engineering is the Director for this new Centre. “Our centre aims to develop advanced carbon science and technologies for global decarbonisation. As we all know, to reach net zero emissions we must replace the current fossil fuel-based energy with clean and renewable energy of zero emissions.”

Prof. Dai said the focus on developing metal-free carbon-based catalysts as alternatives to noble metals or critical mineral catalysts required for clean production of energy and chemicals is a game changer.

“The impact of our centre research will not only help the environment, but will also enhance economic growth through a carbon circular economy, as the carbon catalysts can be developed from waste,” he said.

Dr Richard Johnson, Acting CEO of the Australian Research Council, explained how strong competition was for institutes looking to establish a Centre of Excellence.

“We don't just fund good, and actually, we don't even fund just very good proposals. What we do fund is excellence, which is what the public expects when it comes to the wise investment of scarce resources,” he said.

“So can I say to you, Scientia Professor Liming Dai and your excellent team, congratulations, because you've really gone through a tough, gruelling process.”

Along with the $35 million investment from ARC, the Centre for Carbon Science and Innovation receives significant cash and in-kind investments from industrial partners and partner universities in Australia and international partner organisations around the world.

Find out more about the ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation.