The Western Australia Geothermal Centre of Excellence was officially launched in June 2009.
The Centre is an unincorporated joint venture between UWA, CSIRO and Curtin University. It was established in February 2008 with state government funding of $2.3 million.
Vision
To provide geothermal zero-emission desalinated water, air conditioning and power to modern cities.
Mission
Despite international efforts to curb greenhouse gases emissions, the world’s output of CO2 continues to increase.
Some developed countries are still dependent on polluting energy sources such as coal, and developing countries increase their use of conventional CO2 emitting technologies to power their industrialization.
By developing local solutions for the energy sector in Western Australia, the Centre acts as a seed for a global strategy to address the challenge of climate change.
Our mission is to devise modern, zero-emissions concepts that can be disseminated to other places to help mitigate the global crisis in resources and the environment.
To accomplish this mission, the Centre will:
- underpin a new era of energy development in Western Australia
- provide excellence in geological understanding and exploitation of convective geothermal fields
- foster a capable workforce for the geothermal industry by providing world-class training to students in geothermal energy systems
- develop new synergies between key strength areas in West Australian sciences.
Objectives
- To develop the science to explore low-grade heat in a permeable sedimentary environment, where geothermal groundwater convection is expected to provide a natural heat exchanger.
- To investigate the challenge of using heat directly from low-temperature geothermal sources, focussing on air conditioning, desalination and dehumidification.
- To prepare for a broader initiative based on the challenges posed by deeper and hotter resources.
- To promote the future potential of geothermal energy in Western Australia and beyond by collaborating in training and research initiatives.
Geothermal Centre of Excellence
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
