Conference to boost Australia’s future energy prospects

Major players in the energy sector will converge on UNSW on 3-5 November to share their vision for increasing Australia’s contribution to meeting the world’s future energy needs.

The inaugural Energy Future Conference, hosted by UNSW Engineering, will showcase advanced energy technologies from renewables to gas processing and coal mining, and international research and industry developments.

Speakers from the United States, Italy, China, Korea, Japan, Sweden and Malaysia will join academic, industry and government representatives from Australia at the three-day event. 

The Energy Future Conference coincides with the build-up to the G20, where energy market resiliency and energy efficiency have been earmarked as key discussion topics. 

It also coincides with the upcoming release of the Federal Government’s Energy White Paper, which aims to present an integrated approach to Australia’s energy policy.

Key speakers at the conference include:

• The NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Anthony Roberts MP, who will open the conference.
• Dominic Zaal, Strategic Policy Manager, Energy White Paper Taskforce
• Professor Gabriele Centi from the University of Messina, Italy, who will discuss the challenge of integrating bio- and solar-refineries for the creation of renewable energy.
• World leading solar cell expert UNSW Scientia Professor Martin Green, Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, who will examine the past, present and future of photovoltaics.
• George Maltabarow, Chair of the Australian Energy Research Institute at UNSW and former head of Ausgrid, Australia’s largest electricity network, who will discuss how consumers will benefit from intelligent grids.
• Tokyo University of Science’s Akihiko Kudo, who will present on water splitting to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen is anticipated as a future clean energy resource, and technologies to safely store it are being developed by conference co-chair Associate Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou at UNSW.

In addition, there will be two public forums on topical issues: one on Coal Seam Gas, and the other on the impact of near and long-term disruptive challenges on Australia’s electricity market.

Conference co-chair and UNSW Associate Professor Aguey-Zinsou said he hoped the conference would lead to new research and business opportunities to boost Australia's competitiveness in the energy sector.

UNSW Professor Vassilios Agelidis is also a co-chair of the conference.

For a full list of speakers, the conference program, and to register, click here.

What: Energy Future Conference
When: 3-5 November 2014
Where: Colombo House Theatres, UNSW Kensington Campus 

Media contact: Ry Crozier, UNSW Media Office | +612 9385 1933 | +61 425 245 887 | r.crozier@unsw.edu.au