Brown Coal Research and Development
Victorian Government's Role in Facilitating Innovation
Victoria enjoys an international reputation for leadership in scientific research and development. The knowledge generated by Victorian R&D – and the conversion of R&D into commercial products, processes and services – is vital for boosting the competitiveness of the State’s economy and delivering significant economic and social benefits to Victorians.
The Victorian Government has adopted the role of ‘strategic investor’ in innovation, developing and funding projects where there is obvious market failure or unknown market opportunity and where there is a significant gap in private sector investment. In addition to funding key industry and research stakeholders, resources have been allocated to improve collaboration where unique strategic opportunities exist. Generally, this investment has occurred at the early stages of the research-to-market ‘continuum’, where technical and market risk remains high.
Current Brown Coal Research & Development
Brown Coal Innovation Australia
Following the success of the ETIS Brown Coal R&D Grants program, Brown Coal Innovation Australia (BCIA) was established in 2009 with $16 million funding from the Victorian Government to continue to fund new low emissions coal research and development in Victoria.
BCIA is an independent, not-for profit company that has a clear mandate to co-invest with industry and research entities in skills development and R&D projects in new high quality brown coal technologies and in adaptation of existing low-emissions technologies to Victorian brown coal.
BCIA will co-ordinate all brown coal R&D in Australia in conjunction with the Commonwealth's Australian National Low Emissions Coal (ANLEC) R&D organisation.
For more information on BCIA or brown coal R&D funding opportunities, visit
www.bcinnovation.com.au or contact BCIA Research Investment Manager, David Haarburger, at
david.haarburger@bcinnovation.com.au.
2012 BCIA Research Scholarships
BCIA is now inviting applications for the 2012 BCIA Research Scholarships from PhD candidates at Australia's leading universities.
The BCIA Research Scholarships are available to support high calibre students whose research project will lead to the advancement of innovation in Australian brown coal research, development and industry.
The scholarships offer an annual tax-free stipend of $40,000 (for a maximum of three years) and are available to support full-time study, commencing in 2012, towards the attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
For more information, visit the BCIA website. Applications close on 7 October 2011.
International Collaboration in Brown Coal R&D
Kyushu/Victorian Brown Coal Research and Development Initiative
In 2009, the Victorian Government entered into an agreement with Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power Company (KEPCO) to collaborate research and development involving high level utilisation of brown coal.
The Victorian Government and KEPCO have both committed up to $250,000 per annum each over three years for complementary collaborative projects in their respective states/regions. On 3 March 2010, the Premier of Victoria announced three successful Victorian based projects, all led by Monash University:
- $212,000 to investigate whether cheap carbon derived from Victorian brown coal can be used to adsorb carbon captured from coal and gas-fired electricity generation ready for storage. University of Melbourne and Australian Char are also involved in the project.
- $238,000 to investigate whether Victorian brown coal can be heated and chemically treated to become similar to coking coal, which is used in the production of steel. Coking coal has become rarer and more expensive as global steel demand grows. CSIRO, HR Technology and Australian Char are also involved in this project.
- $269,000 for a project looking at the gasification of brown coal and ways to improve the synthetic gas produced to develop value added products. HRL Technology is a project partner.
