Research projects in the Sustainable Fuels group range from promising experimental and modelling work to Living Labs that have practical, real-world implications.
Current projects
Hydrothermal processing of wastes
Hydrogen vs battery electric trucks for long distance haulage in New Zealand
Implications of switching to electric vehicles
We are helping Te Whatu Ora Southern, the regional public health organisation, to determine how switching to EVs will impact their costs, energy consumptions and carbon emissions.
Previous projects
Energy carrier exports from New Zealand to Japan – a comparative life cycle assessment of hydrogen and ammonia
Large scale export of energy carriers has been proposed by governments and industry. In this project, we looked at the life cycle emissions of exporting hydrogen and ammonia from New Zealand to Japan, where it would be combusted for power generation. Under current conditions, the emissions are greater than those from Japan’s existing power generation, so there are no climate benefits from using energy carriers in this way. The emissions largely result from the need to provide 5 kWh of electricity to produce the energy carrier for every 1 kWh generated in Japan.
Sustainable heating solutions to reduce LPG use on campus
We looked at options for replacing an LPG boiler at the Dunedin campus of University of Otago. The boiler is the largest point source of CO2 emissions at the campus. The proposed solution will reduce boiler emissions by 75% and cut its energy consumption by half. A more detailed study is currently underway.
Energy trends and solar opportunity for Otago University Flats
Using smart meter data for more than 100 flats owned by the university, we found that students use more power in the day time than typical households, making them well-suited for solar utilisation. Around half of the output from solar panels could be used within the flats.
