Research hub to advance energy transition
RMIT will bring together academic, industry partners and government at the university’s RENEW Organics Hub to support Australia’s energy transition.
The new hub has received almost $5 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) as part of the latest round of the Industrial Transformation Research Hubs initiative.
This investment will fund the hub, which will focus on three key themes:
- carbon recovery and advanced materials;
- renewable energy and fuels; and
- nutrient recovery and biofertilisers.
The hub is a cross-sector collaboration and aims to produce high-quality research that can be translated into real-world impact.
The Deputy Head of Chemical and Environment Engineering, Research & Innovation in the School of Engineering, Professor Kalpit Shah, will serve as the hub’s director.
Shah and RMIT will lead a consortium of Australian universities working at the hub, including University of Technology Sydney, The University of Queensland, The University of New South Wales, The University of Western Australia and Curtin University.
Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos, Deputy Vice-Chancellor STEM College and Vice-President RMIT University, said the hub highlights RMIT’s leadership in areas of national priority such as energy security.
“RMIT is committed to delivering research and innovation that meets the needs of industry while advancing environmental protection for the wellbeing of individuals, societies and ecosystems.
“This hub is an excellent example of how RMIT’s applied research environment, focused on interdisciplinary collaboration with industry partners, is uniquely set up to deliver innovative solutions towards a more sustainable, resilient energy future for Australia.”
Major industry partners of the hub will include Melbourne Water, Urban Utilities, Water Research Australia, Intelligent Water Networks, Saunders International, Hart Bioenergy, Water Corporation, EPA Victoria and Barwon Water.
Shah said the hub will leverage RMIT’s research expertise in chemical and environmental engineering to drive impactful outcomes.
“RENEW builds on more than a decade of successful university–industry collaboration, patented technologies and demonstrated research translation, creating a national platform to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative waste-to-resource technologies,” he said.
“[The hub] represents the next major step in building on the foundations set by RMIT researchers to scale our research, innovation and industry impact nationally, enabling safe, sustainable and economically viable resource recovery from diverse organic waste streams.”
The RENEW Organics Hub is due to launch in 2027.
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