Seed Grants

Accelerating the Development of the AI-Agent for Water Industry Decarbonisation (AIWID1.0)

Professor Liu Ye

Urban water infrastructure has a long lifespan but was not originally designed with sufficient consideration of decarbonisation, making it challenging for utilities to meet net-zero targets while maintaining compliance, reliability and cost-effectiveness. Recent artificial intelligence (AI) advances create new opportunities to improve operations and future planning. However, current general-purpose AI tools cannot reliably support decision-making because they are not designed to combine sector expertise, operational data, and validated analytical workflows. 

This project will develop a pioneering AI-agent framework that turns real-world expertise and operational data into actionable

decarbonisation strategies. Leveraging UQ’s internationally recognised expertise and strong industry partnerships, we’re uniquely positioned to lead this innovation as the water industry seeks practical, data-driven pathways to decarbonisation. The project will deliver an AI-agent prototype that serves as the foundation for AIWID1.0 (AI for Water Industry Decarbonisation)—a future integrated platform designed to accelerate the water industry’s journey toward sustainability and lower emissions.

Alkaline All-Iron Redox Flow Batteries for Long-Duration Energy Storage

Associate Professor Bin Luo

This project aims to develop a low-cost, safe battery system for storing renewable energy at large scale.

Current battery technologies rely on expensive and scarce materials, limiting their use for grid storage. Alkaline All-Iron flow batteries use abundant, low-cost materials, but they have not yet been proven at the larger system scale needed for real-world use. Our team has already demonstrated this technology by designing novel electrode and electrolyte materials with a laboratory-scale single flow cell. The next step is to scale it up into a practical system.

We will improve key components of the battery and integrate them into multi-cell battery stacks to demonstrate performance at kW-scale. Working with industry partner Northernjoin, we will test the system under practical conditions and assess its commercial potential. The outcome will be a scalable prototype, helping enable affordable energy storage to support Australia’s transition to renewable energy.

Catalyst Innovation to Enable Ammonia as A Hydrogen Carrier

Dr Mu Xiao

This project addresses a critical challenge facing the global hydrogen economy: the cost-effective recovery of hydrogen from ammonia. While ammonia is an ideal, carbon-free carrier for transporting energy, current methods for extracting hydrogen are either too expensive or require high-temperature processes powered by fossil fuels. This project aims to develop a new generation of low-cost, noble-metal-free catalysts that operate at moderate temperatures (< 500 °C). This specific temperature threshold allows the process to be powered entirely by renewable solar energy. 

By merging machine learning-driven design with prototype validation, we will accelerate the transition from laboratory research to industrial application. The expected outcomes include a functional solar-powered prototype and a clear economic roadmap for commercialisation. This work will derisk the technology for future industrial partnerships, strengthening Australia’s position as a leader in sustainable energy exports and directly supporting our transition to a net-zero future.

From Wetland Methane Signals to Biofertilisers Prototype

Dr Yosephine Gumulya

Wetlands are major natural sources of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but some may also contain microbes that consume methane before it escapes to the atmosphere. This project aims to discover these methane-eating microbes, known as methanotrophs, and develop them into climate-smart biofertilisers. Current methanotroph-based biofertilisers have limited real-world use because many strains require high methane levels and do not perform well in agricultural soils where methane is usually low. 

To address this gap, we will combine satellite and airborne methane observations with field measurements, soil analysis and microbiome profiling to identify low-methane-emitting wetlands likely to host efficient methanotrophs. We will then enrich, isolate and test promising strains for methane oxidation, environmental robustness and potential plant-growth benefits. The expected outcome is proof-of-concept data and candidate microbial strains that could support future biofertiliser development to reduce methane emissions and reliance on synthetic fertilisers.

Integrated TEA–LCA–Market Assessment of a CO2-to-Butanol Platform

Dr Bernardino Virdis

Our team has developed a TRL 3 electrochemical-biological platform that converts carbon dioxide (CO2)-rich industrial off-gases into butanol, a market-relevant low carbon liquid fuel (LCLF). This Seed Grant will generate decision-ready evidence needed to move from the lab to pilot testing by integrating: (1) a targeted market assessment of butanol and relevant drop-in fuel pathways (including aviation fuel upgrading potential); (2) a fit-for-purpose techno-economic assessment for Australian and international deployment conditions, and (3) a life cycle assessment with system boundaries and counterfactuals. 

Using metrics including minimum selling price, CAPEX/OPEX drivers, kg CO2-e per MJ, and carbon abatement costs, we aim to quantify economic viability and emission performance, run sensitivity analyses to identify critical performance thresholds and rank the most promising deployment configurations. Outputs will include TEA/LCA models, a priority shortlist of target off-gas sources, a translation roadmap to support partner engagement, pilot scale-up, and follow-on funding.

Mitigate Sticking in Hydrogen Fluidized Bed Ironmaking

Dr Erlei Li

This project aims to accelerate the transition to Green Steel by optimizing hydrogen-based ironmaking, a process that replaces coal with hydrogen to eliminate CO2 emissions. While using fluidized beds to process iron ore fines is highly efficient, a major industry bottleneck exists: at high temperatures, iron particles become sticky and clump together, halting production. We will address this knowledge gap by developing advanced computer simulations (CFD-DEM) and conducting laboratory experiments to understand and prevent this sticking behaviour. By identifying the precise conditions under which fluidization remains stable, this project will provide a roadmap for scaling up carbon-free steel production in Australia. 
The expected outcome is a validated technical guide for the iron ore sector, advancing the technology toward industrial adoption and strengthening UQ's leadership in global decarbonization efforts. This work directly supports the translation of clean energy research into real-world environmental impact.

Optimising Hydrogen Supply for Low-Carbon Biogas-to-Protein Production

Dr Lars Puiman

This project aims to value-add biogas from landfill and organic waste into high-quality protein for animal and fish feed. Today, most biogas is simply burned for energy or flared, wasting its value and leading to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the expanding animal feed industry faces substantial sovereign supply chain risk in relying heavily on imported soy and fishmeal, which have large environmental footprints and volatile prices. 

UQ has developed a new process that uses microbes to convert biogas together with hydrogen into sustainable single cell proteins (SCP) for animal and fish feed. The remaining challenge is to decide how to make the hydrogen that these microbes need, in an affordable and sustainable way at production scales. This project will compare several hydrogen production options, use techno-economic scenarios to optimise choices for future facilities, laying the groundwork for larger-scale investment in sustainable, Australian-made protein.

Piloting an Advanced Membrane Manufacturing Technology for Clean Energy Applications

Dr Zhuyuan Wang

High-performance ion exchange membranes are crucial for clean energy devices, including water electrolysers, CO₂-to-fuels systems and flow batteries. Our team has developed a new membrane fabrication method, nanochannel confined polymerisation (NCP), which has already shown strong potential to produce robust and high-performance membranes.

Through ongoing commercialisation discussions with UniQuest, investors and industry-facing advisors, manufacturing scale-up has been identified as the next critical milestone. Investors recognise the value of the NCP membrane platform, but require clearer manufacturing evidence before committing further funding. In particular, they need evidence that the technology can be produced continuously, reproducibly and at a scale suitable for corporate proof-of-concept discussions.

To generate this evidence, this project will develop a roll-to-roll pathway to scale up NCP for continuous membrane production. The outcomes will include prototype membrane rolls, manufacturing quality data and performance benchmarks, helping de-risk the technology and support future investment and industry partnerships.

Replacing Peat in Growing Media: A High-Impact Decarbonisation Technology Enabled by UQ EcoSprout Biogels

Dr Hima Haridevan

Growing media are engineered substrates essential for plant growth in controlled environment horticulture, directly influencing yield and consistency in high-value crops such as berries, mushrooms, and nursery plants. This industry remains heavily dependent on peat, a carbon-intensive material mined from peatlands, major global carbon stores. Globally, exploited peatlands emit ~2 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, with horticultural peat use contributing to this footprint through extraction, processing, and transport.

Current industry efforts (e.g. peat substitution with coir/ wood fibre) deliver only incremental emissions reductions and are constrained by performance, variable quality and supply risks.

EcoSprout addresses this through a proprietary Biogel-enhanced, low-carbon substrate produced from any biomass. By enabling high-performance, scalable alternatives compatible with existing supply chains, EcoSprout targets large-scale peat displacement, delivering at least >100 Mt CO₂ annual abatement opportunity to the horticulture industry.

This project advances EcoSprout to TRL 4 through validated laboratory performance, enabling progression toward scalable decarbonisation.

Scalable vanadium electrolyte production for renewable energy storage

Dr Mengyang Dong

Australia’s rapid growth in solar and wind generation requires safe and reliable long-duration energy storage to stabilize the electricity grid. Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) are a leading option, but wider deployment is constrained by the high cost of vanadium electrolyte, which can account for up to 40% of system cost. Current electrolyte production methods rely on energy-intensive electrolysis using non-optimized cathodes, resulting in high electricity use, lower efficiency, and inconsistent product quality.

This project will develop a scalable and stable energy-efficient production pathway based on low-cost upgraded cathode materials and process optimization that can be integrated into existing electrolysis systems. The work targets a 10-15% reduction in energy consumption, improved electrolyte stability, and lower production cost. Outcomes will advance the technology from TRL 2-3 to TRL 4-5, strengthen Australia’s battery supply chain, and support decarbonisation through more affordable long-duration storage.

Scaling Porous Separator-Based CO2-to-C2H4 Electrolyzers

Dr Min Liu

Converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful products like ethylene (C2H4)—a key building block for plastics—offers a pathway to reduce emissions and create value from captured carbon. Electrochemical CO2 reduction to C2H4 using renewable electricity is a leading approach, but current systems are difficult to scale, primarily due to high energy consumption from sluggish ion transport in charge-selective membranes and the additional downstream CO2 recovery, along with limited operational stability. 

Building on our recent advances in porous separator-based electrolyzers for energy-efficient and stable C2H4 production, this project will scale the technology from lab (1 cm2) to practical (250 cm2) devices. A central objective is to establish robust scaling principles for large-area device assembly and performance optimization, thereby addressing a key knowledge gap hindering industrial adoption. The outcomes will enable more efficient and scalable carbon conversion technologies, supporting the transition to sustainable chemical manufacturing and a low-carbon economy.

Solar-Driven Photothermal CO2 Conversion to Syngas for Decarbonisation

Dr Haijiao Lu

Australia's solar resources and green hydrogen sector position it as a future leader in renewable energy exports. Yet hydrogen alone cannot fuel aircraft, produce plastics, or manufacture the chemicals modern industry depends on. The missing link is an efficient, solar-driven route to convert CO2 and green hydrogen into syngas, the universal feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel, green methanol, and industrial chemicals. The established chemical route, the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction, currently requires fossil fuel-derived heat above 600 °C, undermining its decarbonisation value. 

This project develops and validates a photothermal catalytic system that uses concentrated sunlight to drive RWGS directly, exploiting both solar photons and localised solar heat to eliminate external high-temperature energy input. Combining expertise in catalysis, solar thermal engineering, and life cycle assessment, the project will deliver a solar-integrated reactor prototype, mechanistic understanding of the underlying chemistry, and a quantified carbon abatement roadmap relevant to Australian industry.