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The project is expected to make a significant contribution to the development of a vibrant and highly competitive photovoltaics industry in Australia, since the results of the research are expected to lead to improved manufacturing processes. A strong photovoltaics industry will lead to the creation of significant numbers of jobs and export earnings. There is a large and rapidly expanding overseas market for solar panels. In addition, the large scale deployment of photovoltaic systems will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigate the magnitude and severity of the effects of global warming.

A growing public health concern has been the association of HVPL with the incidence of cancer. The newly developed model will be an essential tool for predictive assessment in urban and land planning in relation to location of HVPL, traffic corridors and industry, consistent with the wise management of public funds used in capital infrastructure projects. The ultimate benefit of this research will be reduction of risks and thus an increase in health and well-being of Australians with a reduction in health care costs. If the risk is found to be unwarranted then public money spent on costly power line infrastructure could be deployed to cover beneficial social purposes.

Since the traditional path of energy consumption is not an option for China and India, nuclear energy is recommended as a clean and sustainable alternative. If either China or India or both start expanding their nuclear energy capacity, Australia has a direct interest as a major supplier of coal, natural gas and uranium. As two unconvential great powers, their ability to expand nuclear energy to an extent necessary to meet the challenges will have security implications in the region. Understanding the nuclear politics in these two countries is a necessary requirement for Australia.

Australian economic growth will depend increasingly on the provision of devices using materials designed at the molecular level. Scanning probe microscopy, which uses tips placed very close to surfaces to analyse or modify the surfaces with molecular precision, is an indispensible tool in designing such materials. In this project, scanning probe microscopy will be used to analyse and build structures on polymer solar cells in order to maximise the efficiency of the cells and build prototype nanoscale polymer devices. This will lead to the improvement in devices delivering sustainable energy production - a technology which has the promise of producing energy cheaply from sunlight.

This project aims to develop a completely new processing technology for photo-sensitive oxide materials based on titanium dioxide for the conversion of renewable energy (solar energy) into chemical energy (hydrogen) or electrical energy (photovoltaic). When commercialised, the resultant technology will allow Australia to achieve the following: a) reduction in air pollution, b) reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, c) reduction in reliance on foreign energy sources, d) development of a range of ancillary technologies and infrastructure, and e) export of solar energy in the form of solar-hydrogen. This project addresses National Priorities #1 and #3.

The national benefits of the project lie directly in assisting Australia achieve significant emissions reductions (at least 60% by 2050) as part of the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change. This needs to be done in an effective, efficient and equitable manner that takes into account other national policy goals including those of the energy sector. There are clear benefits in developing a framework that can assist in creating a policy mix that explicitly deals with the complementarities and trade-offs that arise in the interaction of the various policy instruments employed to achieve these multiple goals.

The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sustainable design. Second, the research will enable the Australian built environment to become more sustainable. The proposed approach will enable buildings to be designed that perform well, that are cost effective and that minimise their environmental impact.

The purpose of this research is to improve the design and performance of small wind turbines for energy generation. The expected outcomes are novel control strategies and mechanical designs that account for unsteady aerodynamics and its effects on structural loads and power quality. Recommendations to improve current design standards will be made.

To allow large scale implementation of photovoltaics at multi-terawatt level for a low carbon emission future, technologies are required which are high in efficiency, cheap to produce, use abundant and benign materials. This project is devoted to developing such thin film solar cells by low-cost methods, which are scalable to mass production.

(National Centre for Solar Energy Systems) The National Centre of Excellence for Solar Energy Systems will be an international leader in research, commercialisation and education in the area of solar energy conversion. Research will be conducted into solar cell and solar thermal technologies, including thin crystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells that use far less silicon than conventional cells; systems that concentrate sunlight by 50-500 times; and very efficient solar cells for use in concentrator systems. Expected outcomes include long-term research, commercial research, publications, education, community outreach and commercialisation of solar energy technologies to benefit Australia's economy and environment.