AUSTRALIA
ANNUAL REPORT
2014
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2014 brings challenges
to energy and resources
Energy and resources markets entered a challenging
period in 2014. The world oil price halved, while iron
ore and coal both experienced significant falls in
prices, following gold and other metals to lows not
seen since the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008.
At UCL’s Australia campus, the changing conditions
in resources markets posed new challenges and
opportunities for the university’s first international
department. We continued to grow enrolment
numbers at the five-year-old campus, despite industry
sectors which support the UCL School of Energy
and Resources, Australia, dealing with their own
commercial tightening.
In March we welcomed the Hon Martin Ferguson AM,
the former Federal Minister for Resources and Energy,
as the new chairman of the UCL Australia Board. Mr
Ferguson retired at the September 2013 Election,
after 17 years in Parliament.
The challenging market conditions opened up
new research opportunities as our academic staff
continued to develop projects around the six themes:
1. Adding value to resources
2. Shale and other unconventional gas
3. Environmental and resource monitoring
4. The low carbon economy
5. Community engagement and governance
6. Electricity markets, transmissions and renewables
Continuing UCL’s determination to provide real impact
from its research, Profesor Stefaan Simons, the
BHP Billiton Chair of Energy Policy, told February’s
Australian Domestic Gas Outlook in Sydney, that
the disparity of state regulations in Australia is one
of the key causes of community concerns over
unconventional gas development.
Dr Navinda de Silva attended the 2nd International
Conference of the Research Centre for Energy
Management in Greece in May, telling the conference
that Australia should consider a 100% first-year
depreciation of shale exploration and development
costs, to stimulate unconventional gas jobs and
activity, a policy later adopted by government.
On a more technical level, Dr Ady James presented,
on behalf of colleagues, an ‘Assessment of existing
satellite capacity for methane gas seep detection
from orbit’ at the 14th Australian Space Research
Conference, in Adelaide in September.
Meanwhile, Dr Craig Styan and Dr Laura Falkenberg
produced a compelling article: ‘Too much data is
never enough: a review of the mismatch between
David Travers, CEO and Head of Department with the Hon Martin Ferguson AM, Chairman of the UCL Australia Board
scales of water quality data collection and reporting
from recent marine dredging programmes’ in
Ecological Indicators, while Carmen Wouters, one
of our PhD students, won a Distinguished Scholarly
Award from the International Confederation of Energy
Regulators for her paper, with Dr Katelijn Van Hende,
entitled ‘The role of Microgrids within Future Regional
Electricity Markets’ that will be presented at the World
Forum of Energy Regulation (WFER) in Istanbul,
Turkey, in May next year.
In December we graduated 32 students, the largest
ever number in Australia, and farewelled Emeritus
Professor Alan Robson AO, the former Vice
Chancellor of the University of Western Australia,
who retired as chairman of the UCL Australia
Academic Board.
It was a busy year.
Finally, in addition to recognising the effort of staff,
I add my thanks to the key industry supporters of
UCL’s Australia campus, particularly major financial
sponsors Santos, BHP Billiton and the South
Australian Government, plus Beach Energy
and Chevron.
David Travers
CEO and Head of Department
22 December 2014
founded 1826 ranked 5
29 Nobel prize Winners
University College Lon
don – An intellectual po
world class reputation
powerhouse with a wo
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Research goals
UCL has set itself the task of drawing on its full range of expertise to provide solutions
to the world’s major problems. It is doing so by delivering a ‘culture of wisdom’,
applying knowledge for the good of humanity arising out of a spirit of collaboration
and openness. To deliver this culture of wisdom, UCL has defined overarching Grand
Challenges as vehicles for cross-discipline research. These challenges are: Global
Health, Sustainable Cities, Intercultural Interaction and Human Wellbeing.
UCL Australia, the university’s first overseas campus, delivers on this vision through
multi-disciplinary research and teaching of energy and resources. Energy security
and climate change are among the defining challenges of our time and are central
to all four of the Grand Challenges themes. Hence, UCL Australia, through its three
components - the International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI), the UCL School of Energy
and Resources, Australia (SERAus) and the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL)
aims to:
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Expand its distinctive brand of cross-disciplinary research through collaboration
and partnerships, both within UCL and beyond;
Provide leadership on issues related to the management and governance of
energy and resources, both nationally and internationally;
Engage with communities – local, regional, national and international – to foster
open innovation and collaboration towards the transition to sustainable energy
futures;
Become a source of evidence-based policy solutions; and
Communicate its findings widely through traditional and new forms of media.
UCL Australia applies a systems approach to natural resources research across sectors and
disciplines (technology, natural and social sciences, economics, law) with particular focus on:
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Systems modelling (process optimisation, project organisation and management);
Impact assessment (environment, society, economy);
Decision support (governance, business models);
Policy analysis and assessment (energy security, climate change, regional and national
priorities); and
Innovation opportunities and impacts (disruptive technologies, open and social
innovation, incentives and barriers)
What follows is a review of the research conducted at UCL Australia over the past year.
It reflects the broad spectrum of issues relating to energy and resources, from extraction
through to renewables, and the range of expertise within the department. Where projects
have been conducted within the IEPI, this is indicated against the names of staff involved.
The research work of the student body is also included, with both PhD and MSc projects
highlighted. The impressive list of publications, conference papers and other outputs
emphasises just what a successful year of research 2014 has been.
Professor Stefaan Simons
Director of Research, UCL Australia
Director, International Energy Policy Institute
20 December 2014
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Current research projects
How does environmental regulation impact innovation and
competitiveness? A meta-analysis of the Porter Hypothesis
Assessing the impacts of resources
developments in the sea
Prof Mark Cohen (Vanderbilt University) and Dr Adeline Tubb
Dr Laura Falkenberg and Dr Craig Styan
Twenty years ago, Michael Porter and Claas van der
Linde challenged conventional wisdom by suggesting
well-designed environmental regulation could actually
enhance competitiveness. Traditional economic
orthodoxy at the time maintained environmental
regulation imposed an additional cost on firms which
necessarily eroded their global competitiveness.
Porter and van der Linde showed, via case studies,
that regulation may enhance firm competitiveness by
generating ‘innovation offsets’ which not only improve
economic performance, but which potentially offset
the costs of compliance. By suggesting environmental
regulation might generate a ‘win-win’ situation for
both environmental sustainability and firm profitability,
the so-called Porter hypothesis has generated intense
research among policy makers and academics
alike over the past 20 years. Despite this depth of
research, however, there is little consensus on the
extent to which (if at all) such environmental regulation
might spur technological innovation and ultimately
improve profitability.
To date, we have identified more than 100 potentially
relevant empirical publications examining the
relationship between environmental regulation,
innovation, and competitiveness and are currently
coding each publication to extract relevant
quantitative and qualitative data. Statistical analysis
of this data will shed light not only on direction and
strength of the underlying relationship between
environmental regulation and competitiveness, but
also on the extent to which this relationship depends
on factors such as the data and methodology used
in the empirical analysis, the regulatory approach,
the firm’s sector and market conditions, the
environmental problem being addressed and the
firm’s government and management approach.
Our findings are still preliminary; however, it appears
that studies are more likely to find environmental
regulation has a negative impact on competitiveness
than a positive impact. Moreover, studies are more
likely to find a negative relationship when the study
is at the firm or facility level as opposed to a state
or country level. In other words, while environmental
regulation might hurt individual firms (presumably
those that are older or less efficient), they are less
likely to hurt entire economies.
As an island nation dependent on trade in energy
and resources, Australia is putting ever-increasing
pressure on its coastal resources and needs to
monitor and manage these carefully. As part of this
project we are looking for better ways to monitor
activities associated with offshore oil and gas
development, desalination, ports and other coastal
developments associated with resources extraction.
One of our main areas of research is in developing
cost-efficient, yet statistically powerful, monitoring
programme designs, which take into account natural
environmental variability and the logistical realities
of monitoring offshore, yet provide the critical
information needed by managers. So far we have
produced two review papers on large scale water
quality and coral monitoring programmes; along
with statistical consultancy advice on monitoring to
manage dredging impacts and the effectiveness of
aerial surveys for whales potentially affected by LNG
port developments.
We are also developing new experimental tools for
monitoring and managing impacts, such as new
(rapid) toxicological methods. We have submitted a
review of (eco)toxicology approaches previously used
in permitting desalination developments and refined
a new, general protocol for assessing the toxicity of
substances that might be released into the sea. This
protocol is potentially adaptable for use across a wide
range of marine plants and animals.
Also, the interaction between monitoring, policy and
governance, which is critical for managing impacts,
is an important area of future research. Along with
assessing the potential roles of biodiversity offsetting
policies in the sea and understanding the role of
a ‘social licence to operate’ in both offshore and
onshore resources developments.
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Managing risks and coexistence: A cross-jurisdictional perspective
on effective governance models for the unconventional gas sector
Energy and resources law
and regulation
Christine Trenorden and Dr Cristelle Maurin, IEPI
Dr Katelijn Van Hende
Concerns and challenges have arisen from the
governance of unconventional gas development
and its impact and risks to existing land users. Our
research is analysing the regulatory approaches that
have emerged to improve the management of these
risks. Based on case studies in two jurisdictions (New
South Wales, Australia, and the Province of Alberta,
Canada), the regulator’s approach to the development
of new frameworks, intended to support a ‘more
responsible’ development of resources, will be
considered and critiqued. In particular, the research
is investigating and providing insights into: a framework of analysis to investigate the correlation
between governance systems, the sustainable
development of resources and acceptance by the
community (social licence).
A series of projects are underway, analysing how
legal frameworks and regulation across the energy
and resources sector impact on the environment and
the development of a low carbon economy. Ongoing
projects include:
Offshore wind energy and rational use of sea space:
This research is considering how to develop legal
frameworks which can more rationally manage
available sea space, while respecting economic
and environmental objectives. It looks at different
management approaches towards managing sea
space and resources, in particular in the EU, Australia
and New Zealand.
Electricity markets: This research is looking at different
aspects of electricity market design, predominantly
the liberalization agendas of Asia and Europe and
moving towards regional electricity markets. This
project is multidisciplinary, involving laws and electrical
engineering perspectives.
(a) stakeholder participation in regulatory and policy
development, the nature of its integration into the
proposed new regimes and the correlation between
stakeholder participation in land–use planning and
community acceptance of the industry; and Offshore oil pollution: This project is researching
liability for pollution from global offshore oil rigs
and seeks to identify a trend in the development of
international principles of civil liability for oil spills.
It compares oil mature regimes in Australia, United
States, Europe (UK/Norway).
(b) collaborative governance models. Cross-sector
partnerships have emerged in response to the
complexity and interdependence of issues related
to unconventional gas development. These will be
investigated to provide insights into the context,
governance structure, actors, objectives and benefits.
The research is ongoing, outcomes will help assemble
Charles Nweke, 2012 MSc graduate, Petrophysicist at Santos
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Nuclear fuel
cycle strategies
Dr Michel Berthelemy and Dr Tim Stone, IEPI
The privatisation and valuation
of electricity networks in New
South Wales and Queensland
Dr Michel Berthelemyand Dr Jonathan Mirrlees-Black, IEPI
Although Australia remains the only OECD nation
which does not produce or consume electricity
generated from nuclear power plants, Australia
remains an important producer of uranium fuel for
international nuclear power generators. This project
is considering international strategies to manage
the nuclear fuel cycle with a particular focus on
international options to improve nuclear waste
management. One of these options could include
nuclear fuel leasing, whereby a uranium-producer
country, such as Australia, could lease its uranium
and recover spent fuel material at the end of the
nuclear fuel cycle. We argue that such a proposal
could present economic benefits and improve nonproliferation regime but, clearly, would be difficult
to implement due to current laws and political
opposition. In a second stage, we are focussing on
the UK situation which has to manage its legacy
wastes while delivering an ambitious new-build
program and regenerating its domestic industry.
In order to do so, we argue that the UK needs a
holistic approach for its nuclear fuel cycle in order to
understand the links between these conflicting policy
objectives. In particular, the UK needs to capitalise on
existing nuclear R&D capabilities in order to contribute
actively to future nuclear fuel cycle options through
the international Gen IV forum.
The cost of electricity networks has increased by
more than 50% in Australia over the past decade and
this trend is particularly acute in states where network
assets remain publicly-owned (i.e. New South Wales
and Queensland). The prospect of privatisation
reforms opens the possibility to write-down some
of these stranded assets which have lost their
economic value due to a fall in electricity demand.
This project explores the expected consequences
of such a decision and the ways in which it could be
implemented. In particular, an important argument
refers to the extent to which this reform may reduce
costs of capital, reflecting investors’ view that current
assets’ valuation do not reflect economic realities. In
addition, we also stress the need for this reform to be
part of broader regulatory change covering regulatory
processes and tariff structures.
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HypFex: development of
hyperfine hyperspectral
imaging instrument
Dr Ady James and Dale Potts
MSSL is pioneering an effort to develop a prototype
laboratory and field-deployable very high spectral
resolution imaging instrument to detect and map
methane (CH4) seeps, for potential future high
altitude exploration. The proposed technology aims
to separate CH4 isotopologues and hence determine
if the methane is from biogenic (flora and fauna)
or abiogenic (geological, resource production or
fugitive emission) sources. This capability will enable
resource exploration, the accurate monitoring of any
fugitive emissions for industry and the monitoring
of natural methane seeps from areas such as
environmentally sensitive wetlands.
In the completed first phase a desk-top study
has determined the optimum technology for the
proposed instrument. This research was based on
existing satellite systems performance, and extensive
modelling of the radiative transfer functions over
multiple wave bands. In future stages a prototype
instrument will be developed in the laboratory and,
finally, a field-deployable system will be developed
and field tested.
Shale gas in Australia: The
policy options
Dr Navinda De Silva and Prof Paul Stevens, IEPI
Australia is currently engaged in a significant debate
over the future of its gas resources, their availability
and how they may be best used to benefit the
country. A key question in this debate is about shale
gas and whether Australia can (or in fact wants
to) have the sort of ‘shale gas revolution’ which
has occurred in the United States in recent years.
Petroleum companies are also engaged in the debate
in terms of how gas developments may fit into their
investment portfolios. If shale gas was to make a
major contribution to Australian gas supplies what
impact would this have on both export and domestic
market prices and government policy setting levers?
The aim of this research is to try and identify
if conditions in Australia will encourage the
development of shale gas and if conditions are not
suitable, what policy options may be available to
governments at Federal and State level to rectify
the situation, if desirable. This is being evaluated
by considering the central aspects of petrophysics,
geology, markets, economics, regulations and
infrastructure. Outputs to date include a policy
green paper, several invited lectures, MSc research
projects and publications in journals and
conference proceedings.
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Governance of unconventional
gas operations
Renewable Energy Strategy,
Upper Spencer Gulf
Dr Cristelle Maurin and Christine Trenorden, IEPI
Dr Darien Simon, IEPI
Australia faces ongoing negative public opinion about
the governance of unconventional gas developments
in the burgeoning on-shore gas industry. The rapid
development of the industry has raised concerns
about regulatory capacity to manage the risks, while
inhibiting a constructive dialogue with the community
on the role natural gas plays in Australia’s energy
mix. This project investigates public concerns and
the regulatory approaches to the development of
unconventional gas reserves. Drawing on case
studies in Australia and overseas, the research
provides a comparative analysis of emerging
governance models and regulatory standards aimed
at ensuring safe and sustainable development of the
on-shore gas industry.
The IEPI is collaborating with the Upper Spencer Gulf
Common Purpose Group (comprising three regional
cities, State and Commonwealth Governments) to
develop a renewable energy strategy. The research
is based on an assessment of infrastructure capacity
and constraints, the existing renewable energy
industry in the region, current demand, regional
emissions, key strategic plans, international trends
and local community preferences. The project has
recommended focussing on developing a broader
base of community understanding of the issues
and options and creatively navigating through the
issues raised by different policy goals at different
governmental levels to overcome knowledge gaps,
infrastructure capacity issues (current and future) and
policy matters.
A scoping study, in collaboration with the University
of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, is
assessing the gaps, as perceived by stakeholders,
in the regulation of unconventional gas in several
jurisdictions in Australia, North America and the UK.
The Upper Spencer Gulf partners have recently been
made aware of a significant commercial development
opportunity which could impact the strategic direction
of regional renewable energy development. Hence,
the final report for this project has switched focus
from developing a strategy direction to providing the
foundation for discussion and negotiations about the
potential development opportunity.
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Completed research projects
Does population ageing affect
government environmental
expenditure?
Dr Adeline Tubb
Does it pay to be green?
Examining the impact of
environmental R&D on
firm profitability
Dr Adeline Tubb
Though the requirement for immediate and sustained
investment in climate change mitigation is well
understood, the impact of population ageing on
government environmental expenditure has been
virtually ignored. In an attempt to address this
gap, this research considered two distinct – though
interrelated aspects - of population ageing: increased
longevity and a rise in the proportion of individuals
aged over 65 years. An implication of the overlapping
generations model presented in this research is
that heightened preferences for expenditure on
environmental care, among the young, dominates
older generation’s preferences for higher transfer
payments and lower environmental expenditure.
To test this theoretical result, I employ a panel data
set containing observations on a diverse set of 47
countries. Empirical results provide clear support
for the theoretical hypothesis that the proportion of
individuals over the age of 65 negatively impacts
public spending on the environment, though this
effect is overwhelmed by the statistically significant
positive effect on environmental expenditure of both
longevity and the proportion of the population aged
between 15 and 64 years.
This project utilised an OECD survey of more than
4000 manufacturing facilities to explore whether
environmental R&D expenditure enhances facility
profitability and whether the profitability enhancing
effect of environmental R&D is attributable to green
innovation. Key among the empirical results is that
the proportion of R&D expenditure that a facility
devotes to environmental R&D positively and
significantly impacts facility profitability. Intriguingly
however, this result is not driven by contemporaneous
environmental innovation. Rather, it may be that
by enhancing the green credentials of a facility,
environmental R&D serves to elicit preferential
treatment from key stakeholders.
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SA Power Network smart meter
capacity tariff trial (Year 1)
Low Carbon Prospectus Project, Yorke and Mid North,
South Australia
Dr Darien Simon and Dr Gill Owen, IEPI
Dr Darien Simon, IEPI
In 2013, UCL Australia partnered with SA Power
Networks to assess the impact of a smart meter
capacity tariff trial in North Adelaide, South Australia.
Trial group households were provided with a smart
meter and real time monitoring device. The trial
included an incentive payment to households if they
could decrease peak time demand (3-9 PM) to a
level based on a reduction to previous demand
for each household.
In 2013, Regional Development Australia Yorke
and Mid North and 11 local government councils
partnered with UCL Australia to investigate what the
region could do to attract investment in low carbon
energy generation and other low carbon industries.
The project acquired quarter hourly data from trial and
control households which was analysed for changes
from the previous summer (2011-2012). In addition
to general assessment of the changes for peak and
near-peak time periods, weather impacts on demand
were also compared.
A final report was completed in December 2013
documenting some demand reductions in both trial
and control group households. The data suggests
the incentive did have an impact; however, the trial
group size was quite small (43 households) with a
very high level of variation across the households.
There was no evidence of a general shift in demand
from peak to near-peak times, though there were
some households in which peak demand declined
while near-peak demand increased.
The study concluded in December 2014 after a
comparison of development planning and other
pertinent documents to identify land areas appropriate
for commercial-scale low carbon development.
A survey of regional residents assessed community
preferences for both resource type and strategy for
development. Solar was the most agreeable option.
Wind farms were acceptable in some areas but not in
others. The least acceptable option was nuclear.
Workshops were conducted to develop a low carbon
vision for the future in which a desire to focus on local
self-sufficiency and regional energy generation rather
than commercial scale development reinforced similar
comments from the survey.
Another survey of renewable energy and community
development professionals revealed a high level
of investment uncertainty specific to Australia
expected to last 2-5 years. In combination, the
results indicated some additional work was required
within the region: improved education in renewable
energy and climate change issues, building
community capacity for strategy discussions
and clarifying the development requirements
for renewable energy generation.
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New research projects
Natural capital and productivity:
examining the linkages
The economics of green
technology diffusion
Dr Adeline Tubb
Dr Michel Berthélemy, IEPI and Dr Adeline Tubb
The value of natural capital includes an economy’s
stocks of energy, water, natural habitats and
minerals. Australia’s natural capital base drives the
nation’s economy and provides significant social
and health benefits for the population. Despite the
crucial role played by natural capital in determining
economic and social prosperity, there are many
unanswered questions surrounding the relationship
between natural capital, economic competitiveness
and productivity growth. For example, how does
a country’s natural capital stock and the rate of
resource extraction impact productivity growth? To
what extent does the failure to include core inputs
and outputs in market transactions contribute to the
sub-optimal exploitation of an economy’s energy
and resources base? This research will shed light on
these, and other, outstanding questions.
Issues surrounding green technology diffusion from
developed to developing countries have remained
largely overlooked in the economic literature,
where existing contributions do not explore the
trade-offs between different policy mechanisms,
and technological options and have been limited
to mechanisms – such as the Clean Development
Mechanism – that impact diffusion only indirectly.
To address this significant gap in the literature, we
aim to investigate three interrelated questions: (a)
What are the impacts of command and control versus
market based instruments on green innovation and
technological diffusion?; (b) How does the choice
of pollution control instruments impact the type of
green technologies which are transferred?; and (c)
How does green technology diffusion from developed
to developing countries enable developing countries
to engage in environmental technological
innovation domestically?
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System design and dynamics
for sustainable energy and
emissions planning in
South Australia
Dr Eng Hwa Yap and Richard Bucknall
(UCL, Bloomsbury)
This will investigate the conditions required to realise
a sustainable energy system and emission planning,
especially for holistic key load activities in South
Australia. From the analysis and case modelling, it
is expected that the discussions will be relevant to
contemporary governmental policy and industrial
strategic directions. The outcome of this research
is expected to contribute to the wider strategy of
sustainable development from energy and emissions
planning perspective for South Australia.
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BHP Billiton Scholarships
PhD Research
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CARMEN
WOUTERS
YUNYANG
WU
The least cost combination of
renewable generators, storage
system and transmission system
in an Australian Super Grid
Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have
drawn academic and industrial attention to high
penetration renewable power systems as a more
sustainable alternative. Given the abundance of wind
and solar resources, development of transmission
networks and placements of storage are crucial for
high penetration renewable power systems.
My research focuses on the most economic
combination of renewable technologies, storage
devices and transmission infrastructure to meet the
demand in the Australian National Electricity Market
(NEM) regions. The research is also investigating the
role of storage devices, transmission infrastructure
and carbon policy in the future power systems.
HOLLY
NINER
Interdisciplinary optimisation of
design, operation and regulation
of residential microgrids
Biodiversity offsets and
their potential in the marine
environment
The focus of my research is the use of mathematical
modelling to assess optimal design, operational and
organisational parameters for residential microgrids.
Government and industry are rapidly adopting
biodiversity offsetting approaches to account for
the environmental impact of development and use
of natural resources. Offsetting in the marine area
presents challenges, as the knowledge of associated
ecological systems is much more limited and
uncertain when compared to terrestrial systems.
The aim is to provide an interdisciplinary decisionmaking strategy to make recommendations for a
conceptual regulatory framework aiding the widespread implementation of microgrids within future
liberalised electricity markets.
Until now, a model was developed for optimal
residential energy system design, minimising energy
related costs. This is extended to multiple-objectives
to analyse the impact of different stakeholder
preferences on chosen designs.
This research explores, firstly, the potential of offsets
to represent an improvement to current environmental
compensation approaches and whether they can
contribute to the wide-ranging sustainability and
conservation goals in the marine area. Secondly, it
considers the social factors that influence marine
governance and the management of competing
economic, conservation and sustainability objectives. 27
SAYARA
SALIYEVA
MARIYA
KOLEVA
Life cycle assessment of
underground coal gasification
Synthesis of water
purification processes
My research lies at the interface between
environmental and social risk assessments and
techno-economic analysis of gasification processes,
particularly in relation to policy formation and the
establishment of novel or emerging technologies such
as underground coal gasification.
The primary goal of the project is the development
of a methodology for selecting a technically,
economically and environmentally superior system for
the purification of any water source.
I have focused on looking at alternatives to the
traditional combustion coal utilisation technologies.
Underground coal gasification was identified among
other clean coal technologies as one of the most
promising, especially when combined with carbon
capture and sequestration or enhanced oil recovery
technologies to reduce environmental impact
associated with coal utilisation and having a potential
to become a bridging technology for sustainable
energy future.
I am considering various inlet and outlet water
qualities and the most common purification
technologies to deliver a final product that meets
regulatory standards.
The problem is formulated as a mathematical model
and the aim is to test its applicability on a few case
studies from surface water, tertiary wastewater or
seawater projects. The results give the shortest
purification pathway that will cost least throughout
the plant lifetime at the lowest carbon footprint and
waste disposal.
PhD Research
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NELSON
ENANO JR.
Funded by the Australia Development Awards (AusAid).
Using the Value of Lost Load
(VOLL) dynamics to assess
design scenarios for renewable
energy integration
This research explores consumers’ valuation of
electricity continuity, in assessing technical and policy
arrangements for renewable energy integration. The
project is set in the context of the Philippines (a
developing country) to determine how this demandside valuation provides guidance on designing
development plans for investment to achieve greater
proportion of renewable energy technologies on the
generation mix.
The aim is to elucidate the overlapping and conflicting
concepts and theories about consumers’ valuation
on power interruption and develop a methodological
framework on how this valuation can be effectively
integrated in the development planning.
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MSc graduates
28
UNITED
KINGDOM
UGANDA
AUSTRALIA
HERBERT ABIGABA
MATTHEW ARMITAGE
CHRISTOPHER BARTLEY
Systematic best practice energy
management for the mining
industry: A case study for Olympic
Dam (ODO) in South Australia
The economics of Residential
Electricity Storage (RES) systems in
Victoria, Australia
Can You Measure a Social Licence
to Operate? New multivariate
approaches to analysis
Residential electricity storage (RES) battery systems
that complement solar PV are now being sold to
grid connected consumers and many anticipate this
technology could disrupt the electricity industry in
the future. My research took a detailed modelling
approach to analyse the economic viability of battery
based RES for residential consumers today, and
project the likely paybacks for such systems when
investing over the next decade. Further analysis
indicates how RES could impact the timing, volume
and volatility of residential demand for grid delivered
electricity.
Companies in the energy and resources sector
often try to understand their social licence to
operate by conducting community surveys.
However the drivers of community acceptance
are complex and interlinked and key insights are
often missed using conventional univariate
approaches. My research investigated the use of
multivariate statistical techniques and the results
used to generate a visual representation of the data
that showed which impacts and attitudes were the
most important drivers of community acceptance.
Energy is one of the most important cost drivers in
a modern mining operation, typically accounting for
10-40% of the operations cost. My research applied
a best practice methodology to evaluate the existing
energy management systems (EnM), as well as
analysis to determine the potential for improvement,
at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam. The results showed
EnM has the potential to deliver significant energy
savings. Secondly, benchmark analysis shows that at
ODO, measures of waste heat recovery, production
energy optimization and renewable energy
technologies present viable opportunities
for energy improvement.
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31
REPUBLIC
OF ARMENIA
UNITED
KINGDOM
REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
CHILE
ANNA BUDAGHYAN
SERGIO A. DÍAZ PIZARRO
WILLIAM FRANCIS
MYOUNG JAE KIM
Third Party Access To Natural Gas
Pipelines In Australia: Overcoming
Barriers
Energy Transmission Expansion
Planning in the Australian Context:
an integrated solution for the gas
and electricity markets
An analysis of the relationship between
Australian renewable energy policy,
market forces and corporate finance;
can the Large Scale Renewable Energy
Target (LRET) be met under current
market conditions?
Evaluating South Australian
Industry Practices with regard
to the Environmental Risks of
Hydraulic Fracturing in SA shale
plays – in South Australia Case
Third party access (TPA) requires the owners of
natural gas transmission networks to allow any
producers to access these networks. By comparing
Australian TPA frameworks, with the advanced
regime in the EU, my research identified two major
barriers hindering the functioning of TPA in Australia
– vertical integration and the contract carriage model
of pipeline capacity management. The experience
of the EU in addressing the first barrier the form of
unbundling rules is recommended to be a good
example to consider.
Australia is on the verge of an energy planning
dilemma. Most of its electricity generation is from coal,
resulting in enormous discharge of CO2. The country
is confronted with the question ‘which future energy
path must Australia follow’? Business as usual, where
coal is the predominant fuel to generate electricity, or a
shift into a low carbon economy? My research shows
the power generation and transmission expansion
planning of the electricity sector seeks an optimal
answer to the following questions: when, what and
where new generation and transmission assets will
be built over a specific period of time.
Meeting Australia’s 41,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) target
for large-scale renewable electricity generation requires
an almost threefold increase in existing onshore wind
power capacity between now and 2020. My paper
argues that current Australian environmental and energy
policy objectives have been, and continue to be, eroded
primarily by the fundamentals of supply and demand.
A resulting inability to secure finance is also recognised
showing Australian wind projects that secure finance,
do so at a premium to other regions.
To verify the effectiveness of the South Australian
shale industry hydraulic fracturing mitigation practices,
my research designed evaluation mechanisms,
composite risk criteria and composite risk matrix.
These mechanisms assess the severity of the residual
environmental risks and differentiate the risks in terms
of the level of risk severity. The results indicate that
while the water contamination and GHG emission
could not be mitigated into as low as reasonably
practicable (ALARP) through current SA industry
practices, the other environmental risks could be
mitigated to acceptable levels.
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REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
MALAYSIA
TAE JIN KIM
SUJIN LEE
AHMAD ZUHAIRI MUZAKIR
HYUN-JONG PARK
Completed two short research projects
in MSc year two.
Web Communications and
Cultural Homogeneity in
the Oil and Gas Industry
Evaluation of Medium to LongTerm Shale Gas Production
Costs in Australia
A web site is one of the main channels for a company
to communicate with its stakeholders. Communication
is influenced by culture and so is web communication
through a web site. Thus it has been presumed that
countries classified into the same cultural context have
the same communication method. It might have ignored
possibilities of differences in web communication
between the countries. This research presents the
results of an investigation of 150 oil and gas corporate
websites from three low-communication methods.
Further, it contains a comparison between the results
from low-context countries and a high-context
country, South Korea, to figure out a difference of
web communication from different cultures.
Australia is catching up with shale gas development,
as it embarks on a LNG export drive. However, the
shale gas is still new and Australia has a long way to
go before shale gas can be a major contributor to gas
production. This project considers the financial viability
of Australian shale gas development, from the well
drilling and completion perspective as well as required
investment of gas processing plant (GPP) and other
infrastructure necessary to bring whatever shale gas
to be produced, online. As expected, it was found that
Australian shale gas is more expensive than the US,
due to costs (capital, operational and fiscal). It also
provides the investments required to bring the gas from
extraction, process and distribution.
A Study of Strategies and
Options for Regional Low Carbon
Investment - A Case of the Yorke
Peninsula and Mid-North region
A study of harmful emissions
reduction through natural gas
based electricity generation
Sustainable energy and
emissions planning for South
Australia: An assessment using
World Bank’s Sustainable
Urban Energy and Emissions
Planning (SUEEP)
Many countries and regions such as the UK, Australia
and Korea have promoted the investment in low carbon
industries and technologies to achieve low carbon
development for economic, social and environmental
benefits. My research investigated the optimal strategies
and options towards low carbon development. I
chose the Yorke Peninsula and Mid-North region of
South Australia as a case study. My results identify job
creation and cost reduction as the important economic
drivers, with high costs and long payback period the
key barriers. From a social point of view, drivers were
growing public perception and personal understanding,
while barriers were distrust of public information and
regional opposition.
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35
REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
INDONESIA
AUSTRALIA
BELGIUM
IWAN SETIYONO KO
OWEN SHARPE
IK SU SHIN
MAXIME SNICK
The World’s first integrated nuclear
fuel leasing in South Australia? A
proposed business model and its
economic appraisal
The legal merits of an Australian
Nuclear Fuel Leasing scheme
A Study of Australian LNG Exports
to the Asian Market: Opportunities
and Challenges
Potential for water conservation in
the brewing industry: A case study
for a medium sized brewery in
South Australia
This study proposes a new Australian uranium
business model referred to as Australian Integrated
Nuclear Fuel Leasing (INFL) scheme that adopts
a cradle-to-grave, open nuclear fuel cycle. The
proposed model is the world’s first INFL and
arguably the most comprehensive proposal ever
made. My research estimates the conservative
base cost of Australian INFL to be $623.47/kg U
concentrate. My modelling suggests the lowest net
present value (NPV) at $3.05 billion with a payback
period for the conservative scenario (accumulative
net cash flow) estimated to be 12 years.
Australia is a major player in the international
uranium market, holding 29% of the world’s
reserves in its role as the third largest nuclear
fuel supplier globally. Many developing nations
within Australia’s immediate region have either
begun, or signalled their intent, to produce nuclear
energy, including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand and Vietnam. An Australian ‘Nuclear
Fuel Leasing’ scheme is believed to have positive
implications including enhanced non-proliferation
and safeguard network as well as economic,
political, ethical and environmental advantages.
My research addresses a lack of literature related
to NFL’s legal implementation. Given the breadth
of regulatory issues touched by such a scheme.
Over the past several years, Australia has been
leading a massive wave of LNG production
projects ahead of other potential competitors
to become the world biggest LNG exporter
by 2018. My research dissertation studies the
long-term Asian LNG market development in
the context of Australian LNG exports through
identifying some key factors including supply,
demand, supply price, supply cost and Asian
importers’ strategies for LNG procurement.
These factors are likely to reveal uncertainties
and dynamics of the Asian LNG market in the
future and to consequently affect Australian LNG
exports over the next decades.
In the brewing process, a large amount of water is
consumed for brewing, cleaning and cooling. As
both the supply and disposal cost of water increases,
breweries seek ways to reduce their water use. My
research, hosted at Coopers Brewery, proposes
a general water audit methodology as applied to
a medium–sized Australian brewery. This process
involves (i) compilation of a water balance, (ii) analysis
and comparison of water efficiencies, (iii) technical
analysis of water savings measures and (iv) economic
analysis of the proposed saving options.
37
KAZAKHSTAN
AUSTRALIA
WILLIAM TROTT
AISHAT YERGALIYEVA
Completed two short research projects
in MSc year two.
Coal To Liquids Technology
Development Prospective In South
Australia: Policy Barriers And Drivers
Hyperspectral remote sensing – a
review of the current technology,
its application in the detection and
monitoring of methane gas, and an
examination of factors and trends
which may influence the design of
future sensor
Building climate change resilience – an
examination of resilience building in the
broader context of urbanization and
climate change, and an assessment of
measures undertaken in Kuala Lumpur
The key objective of this research project was
to determine the role and assess the current
state of policy framework for development and
adoption of alternative technologies, in particular
coal to liquids. Coal to liquids is a technology to
produce synthetic liquid hydrocarbons derived
from coal. From an environmental point of view,
well to wheel production of synthetic diesel from
coal is as twice CO2 intensive as conventional
diesel production. Without adequate carbon
management system integration, my research
found it strongly doubtful that coal to liquids will
go global.
MSc graduates
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39
INDUSTRY
ENGAGEMENT
Students at UCL Australia enjoy
unprecedented access to industry, in
the classroom, in research – and popularly
– during two major field trips each year.
In 2014, students visited Port Bonython
(Santos), wind farms, solar,
gas and coal-fired power stations,
Olympic Dam (BHPB), the Whyalla
steelworks (Arrium), water desalination
and interconnectors (ElectraNet).
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41
Location Title
Presenter/s
Event
Public engagement: Australia
March
Adelaide SA
Nuclear Fuel Leasing
David Travers, Prof Stefaan Simons, Dr Michel Berthelemy
Corporate briefing to Deloitte
Adelaide SA
Nuclear Fuel Leasing
David Travers, Prof Stefaan Simons, Dr Michel Berthelemy
Corporate briefing to PB
Adelaide SA
Uranium Fuel Leasing
Prof Brian Collins (STEaPP)
Corporate briefing to Babcock
Adelaide SA
Systems Thinking and Interdependency – a joined up world
Prof Brian Collins (STEaPP)
Grote Lecture
Adelaide SA
Energy and environmental public policy. Joining the dots between public policy,
economics and implementation
Jim Voss, Honorary Reader
Grote Lecture
Perth WA
Global implications of the shale technology revolution
Prof Paul Stevens
Australian British Chamber of Commerce
Adelaide SA
Global implications of the shale technology revolution
Prof Paul Stevens
Australian British Chamber of Commerce
Adelaide SA
The International Oil and Gas Companies: Is the old business model dead?
Prof Paul Stevens
Grote Lecture
Adelaide SA
Prospects for shale gas in Australia
Prof Paul Stevens
Briefing to petroleum company
Adelaide SA
Energy Dynamics – Security, Gas and Renewables – internationally and locally
Prof Paul Stevens
CEDA
Adelaide SA
The International Oil Companies: Do they have a future?
Prof Paul Stevens
Lecture, University of Adelaide
Adelaide SA
The global energy implications of the shale technology revolution
Prof Paul Stevens
Corporate briefing to Deloitte
Adelaide SA
3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
Prof Paul Stevens, Prof Stefaan Simons
UCL-Ian Wark Research Institute (UniSA)
Adelaide SA
Private boardroom lunch, with Martin Ferguson
Hon Martin Ferguson AM
Santos
Adelaide SA
Uranium Fuel Leasing
Hon Martin Ferguson AM
Confidential
Adelaide SA
Mining 2030 roundtable: “What would a mine look like in 2030?”
Key thinkers from UCL
Private roundtable BHP Billiton-UCL
Adelaide SA
Application of Oil Dispersants by Sub-surface Injection: Deepwater Horizon
Dr Kenneth Lee (CSIRO)
Grote lecture
Adelaide SA
Showcasing remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging capability of MSSL
MSSL (Dr Ady James)
Confidential briefing
Adelaide SA
Arbitrating Complex Energy Disputes:Gas/LNG Production&Export
Dr Alejandro Escobar
Grote Lecture
April
May
June
August
42
43
Location Title
Public engagement: Australia
Adelaide SA
Presenter/s
Event
International arbitration and dispute resolution
Dr Alejandro Escobar
Corporate lecture at Finlaysons
Adelaide SA
Evidence, Parliaments and making good policy decisions
Chris Tyler (Director of the Parliamentary Office of Science
and Technology, and UCL
Grote Lecture
Adelaide SA
Economic prosperity: the risks and opportunities of public infrastructure
investment
UCL Dept of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public
Policy delegation (Professor Brian Collins CB, Professor
Arthur Petersen, Dr Michael Acuto)
CEDA panel
Adelaide SA
South Australia and the world energy outlook
Prof Christof Rühl
Grote Lecture
Adelaide SA
South Australia and the world energy outlook
Prof Christof Rühl
Government workshop
Adelaide SA
South Australia and the world energy outlook
Prof Christof Rühl
Boardroom dinner - Deloitte
Adelaide SA
South Australia and the world energy outlook
Prof Christof Rühl
Hon Martin Hamilton-Smith MP
Sydney NSW
World Oil Prices
Prof Christof Rühl
CBA clients
Brisbane QLD
The global energy implications of the shale technology revolution
Prof Paul Stevens
Boardroom lunch - ABCC
Canberra ACT
Global fuel security
Prof Paul Stevens and David Travers
Secretary of Defence
Canberra ACT
Global fuel security
Prof Paul Stevens and David Travers
National Oil Supplies Emergency
Committee (NOSEC)
Melbourne VIC
Global Energy Outlook: Oil and Gas
Prof Paul Stevens and Hon Martin Ferguson AM
CEDA lunch
Adelaide SA
Global Energy Outlook: Oil and Gas
Prof Paul Stevens and Hon Martin Ferguson AM
CEDA lunch
Adelaide SA
The International Oil Companies: Do they have a future?
Prof Paul Stevens
Presentation to Young Petroleum
Professionals SA
Adelaide SA
Prospects for shale gas in Australia
Prof Paul Stevens, Prof Stef Simons, Dr Navinda De Silva
Briefing to petroleum company
Transforming health
Prof Sir Malcolm Grant CBE
Government workshop
Melbourne VIC
How health can beat at the heart of an economy
Prof Sir Malcolm Grant CBE
Boardroom lunch with ABCC
Adelaide SA
How health can beat at the heart of an economy
Prof Sir Malcolm Grant CBE
Address at SAHMRI
September
October
November
Adelaide SA
44
45
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Papers
Conference Papers
De Silva, N., Simons, S.J.R. and Stevens, P. (2014). The
future implications of shale gas developments and LNG
exports from Australia. International Shale Gas and Oil
Journal, vol. 4, 17-28.
Van Hende, K., De Silva, N., Xiao, P. and Maurin, C. (2014).
Mapping out China’s Shale Gas Future: Challenges Towards
Development. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, vol. 3,
special issue, 2014.
Falkenberg, L.A. and Styan, C.A. (2014). Too much data is
never enough: a review of the mismatch between scales
of water quality data collection and reporting from recent
marine dredging programmes. Ecological Indicators, 45:
529-537.
Van Hende, K. and Wouters, C. (2014). The Regulation
of Microgrids in Liberalized Electricity Markets in the EU
and East Asia. European Networks Law and Regulation
Quarterly, vol. 3, 190-204.
Falkenberg, L.J. & Styan, C.A. (2015). The use of simulated
whole effluents in toxicity assessments: a review of case
studies from reverse osmosis desalination plants.
In press, Desalination.
Styan, C.A. and Hanley, J.R. (2013). Muddying the waters:
the science of protecting the environment during dredging.
Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs,
vol. 5,137-145.
Styan, C.A., Elsdon, T., Marnane, M., Carey, M., Morgan, C.,
Rouphael, T., des Lestang, P. (2013). Knowledge gain from
marine environmental monitoring during dredging at Barrow
Island. APPEA Journal, 53, extended online abstract.
Wawryk, A. and Van Hende, K. (2014). ‘The
internationalisation of liability regimes for offshore petroleum
exploration and production’. APPEA Journal, 209-230.
Wouters C. (2015). Towards a regulatory framework for
microgrids - The Singapore experience. Sustainable Cities
and Society, vol. 15, 22-32.
Van Hende, K. (2015). Offshore wind in the European Union:
Towards Management of Our Marine Waters. Kluwer Law
International, ISBN 978-90-411-5613-6.
Van Hende, K. and Wawryk, A. (2014).‘Gross Negligence
under the US Clean Water Act and General Maritime Law: In
re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of
Mexico, on April 20, 2010, (MDL 2179) ‘Findings of Fact and
Conclusions of Law Phase OneTrial’, Rec. Doc. 13,355”.
Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal, vol. 28,
2, 122-136.
Lee, H. Y. and Yap, E. H. (2015), The Step Forward: Options
for the Displacement of Power Generation from Oil and Gas
in Malaysia Using a System Dynamics Approach. To be
published in Journal of Clean Energy Technologies, IACSIT
Press, Singapore, ISSN: 1793-821X.
Lim, S.W., Chen, K.F. and Yap, E.H. (2014), System
Dynamics of Electric Cars (EC) Usage and Support
Infrastructure in Malaysia. Applied Mechanics and Materials:
Advanced Development in Industry and Applied Mechanics,
Vol. 627, Pages 342-346, Trans Tech Publications Inc.,
Switzerland, ISSN 1662-7482.
Tan, B.S. and Yap, E.H. (2016). Sustainable Growth of
the Commercial Aviation Industry in Malaysia Using a
System Dynamics Approach.To be published in Journal
of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 11, Issue 4,
Taylor’s University, Malaysia, ISSN 1823-4690.
Tan, A.H.P., Chen, K.F. and Yap, E.H. (2014). System
Dynamics of a Marine Renewable Energy Scheme (MRE)
for Malaysia. Applied Mechanics and Materials: Advanced
Development in Industry and Applied Mechanics, Vol. 627,
Pages 318 – 322, Trans Tech Publications Inc., Switzerland,
ISSN 1662-7482.
Wong, V.K., Ho, J-.H. and Yap, E.H. (2014). Experimental
Study of a Piezoelectric Rain Energy Harvester. Advanced
Materials Research: Engineering and Innovative Materials III,
Vol. 1043, Pages 263 – 267, Trans Tech Publications Inc.,
Switzerland, ISSN 1662-8985.
Wong, V.K., Ho, J-.H. and Yap, E.H. (2014). Dynamics of a
Piezoelectric Beam Subjected to Water Droplet Impact with
Water Layer Formed on the Surface. Journal of Intelligent
Material Systems and Structures, Sage Publications, USA,
eISSN 1530-8138, first published 9 Sept 2014.
Berthelemy, M., Dussaux, D. and Soderberg, M. (2014).
Measuring the effects of long lasting government
interventions: evidence from the restructuring of the US
nuclear power sector. IAEE International Conference, New
York City, USA, 15-18 June.
De Silva, N., Simons, S.J.R. and Stevens, P. (2014).
Economic impact analysis of unconventional natural gas
development and policy implications. Proc. 53rd Meeting
of the Euro Working Group on Commodities and Financial
Modelling (EWGCFM) and 2nd International Conference
of the Research Centre for Energy Management (RCEM),
Chania, Crete, 22-24 May.
De Silva, N., Simons, S.J.R. and Stevens, P. (2014).
Petrophysical characterization of Cooper Basin shale and
adaptability of traditional fraccing technologies, AECS
Convention “Sustainable Australia”, Newcastle, NSW,
Australia 7-10 July.
De Silva, N., Simons, S.J.R. and Stevens, P. (2014).
Comparison of US Shale Plays with Emerging Non-Marine
Shale Plays in Australia. AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta,
USA, 16-21 November.
Enano Jr., N.H., Berthelemy, M., Owen, A. and Simons,
S.J.R. (2014). Integrating willingness-to-pay with reliability
planning: The role of the value of lost load in inducing
investment and demand-side participation. BIEE 10th
Academic Conference, Oxford, UK, 17-18 September.
Falkenberg, L.J., Russell, B.D. and Connell, S.D. (2014).
Resisting environmental change: the importance of
maintaining intact kelp forests in an increasingly stressful
world. 51st Australian Marine Science Association Annual
Conference, Canberra, Australia, 6-10 July.
Koleva, M.N., Polykarpou, E.M. and Papageorgiou, L.G.
(2013). An MILP Model for Cost -Effective Water Treatment
Synthesis. The 20th International Congress on Modelling
and Simulation (MODSIM), pp. 2716 - 2722.
Koleva, M.N., Polykarpou, E.M., Styan, C.A. and
Papageorgiou, L.G. (2014). Overall Process Synthesis of
Seawater Desalination. AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, USA,
16-21 November.
Potts, D., Muller, J-P., James, A., Walton, D. and Melina, E.
(2014). Assessment of existing satellite capacity for methane
gas seep detection from orbit. 14th Australian Space
Research Conference, Adelaide, 29 September-1 October.
Saliyeva, S., Simons, S.J.R. and J. Menicucci (2014).
Economic Analysis of Underground Coal Gasification End
Product Market: Australian Case Study. New Horizons
in Gasification, 12th European Gasification Conference,
Rotterdam, 10-13 March.
Saliyeva, S., Simons, S.J.R., Lettieri, P. and J. Menicucci
(2014). Techno-Economic Assessment of World Scale
Ammonia/Urea and Methanol co-production based
on Underground Coal Gasification: Australian Case
Study. IChemE, ed. Chemeca 2014, Perth, Australia, 28
September-1 October.
Saliyeva, S., Simons, S.J.R., Lettieri, P. and J. Menicucci
(2014). Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of
Underground Coal Gasification followed by Gas-to-Liquid
Synthetic Oil Production. SPE, ed. APOGCE 2014, Adelaide,
Australia, 14-16 October.
Saliyeva, S., Simons, S.J.R., Lettieri, P. and J. Menicucci
(2014). Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of
Underground Coal Gasification. AIChE Annual Meeting
2014, Atlanta, USA, 16-21 November.
Simon, D. and Simons, S.J.R. (2014). Individual, Community
and Society Challenges in Low Carbon Energy Transition:
the Case of the Yorke and Mid North Region South Australia.
The IAFOR International Conference on Sustainability,
Energy and Environment 2014, Providence, RI, United
States, 11-14 September.
Simon, D. and Simons, S.J.R. (2014). Regional Low Carbon
Development Issues in Yorke and Mid North Region, South
Australia. Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional
Australia (SEGRA), Alice Springs, Australia, 6-10 October.
Simon, D. and Simons, S.J.R. (2015). Low Carbon Energy
Transition Challenges in Rural Regional South Australia. 11th
International Conference on Sustainability Copenhagen,
Denmark, 21-23 January.
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47
Invited Presentations
Simons, S.J.R. (2012). Can social networking and open
innovation help accelerate the transition to a low carbon
economy? Chemeca 2012, Wellington, New Zealand,
23-26 September.
Simons, S.J.R., Owen, A., Brown, J., Stone, T., Irwin, A.,
Voss, J., Cook, H. and Backhaus, R. (2013). What would it
take for Australia to develop a nuclear-powered submarine
capability? Chemeca 2013, Brisbane, Australia, 1-3 October.
Simons, S.J.R. (2013). From subs to Mines: What would it
take for Australia to develop a nuclear-powered submarine
capability? AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, USA,
3-8 November.
Tubb, A. (2014). The Impact of Environmental Regulation
on Firm Competitiveness: A meta-analysis of the Porter
Hypothesis. Fifth World Congress of Environmental and
Resource Economists, Istanbul, Turkey, 28 June – 2 July.
Voss, J., Simons, S.J.R., Brown, J., Owen, A., Cook,
H., Backhaus, R., Stone T. and Irwin A. (2014). Selecting
Nuclear-Powered Submarines in Australia: Nuclear Waste
Consideration. Proc. Waste Management 2014 (WM2014),
Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 2-6 March.
Wouters C., Polykarpou E. M., Fraga E. S. (2013). Optimal
design of a microgrid: A case study in South Australia. All
Energy Australia, Melbourne, Australia, 8-9 October.
Wouters, C., Fraga, E. S., James, A. M., Polykarpou, E.
M. (2014). Mixed-integer optimisation based approach for
design and operation of distributed energy systems. The
Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference
(AUPEC), Perth, Australia, 28 September-1 October.
James, A., “Greenhouse gas monitoring at the Mullard
Space Science Laboratory (UCL, Australia)”. Roundtable for
oil and gas projects, Adelaide, Australia, 23 October 2014.
James, A., “CubeSat instrumentation development for the
QB50 project”. Workshop on utilising existing Australian
space capability for future growth, Mt Stromlo Observatory,
Canberra, Australia, 14 - 18 July 2014.
Reports
Simons, S.J.R., “Evaluating the effectiveness of
government initiatives and intervention policies in emerging
unconventional gas markets”. Australian Domestic Gas
Outlook 2014, Sydney, Australia, 25-27 February 2014.
Simons, S.J.R., “Energy policy outlook for the Asian LNG
market”. Australian Gas Export Outlook 2014, Brisbane,
Australia, 24-25 June 2014.
Owen, G., “Where is the vulnerable consumer in market
led reforms”? Australian Council of Social Service Annual
Conference, Adelaide, Australia, March 2013.
Simons, S.J.R., “Getting value out of CO2 emissions;
Innovations in waste treatment and CO2 conversion”. Enviro’
14, Adelaide, Australia, 18-19 September 2014.
Owen, G., “UK Energy Efficiency schemes to tackle fuel
poverty - and some considerations for Victoria”. One Million
Homes Roundtable, Melbourne, Australia, April 2013.
Simons, S.J.R. and Stone, T., “The international
management of spent nuclear fuel”. Nuclear Industries
Association Annual Meeting, London, UK,
4 December 2014.
Owen, G., “The Great Britain energy retail market – recent
Ofgem proposals”. Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre
(CUAC) reference group, Melbourne, Australia,
30 May 2013.
Owen, G., “The role of the demand side in the electricity
market”. Australian Institute of Energy, Melbourne, Australia,
18 July 2013.
Owen, G., “The role of consumer challenge in energy
regulation in Great Britain”. Energy Networks Association,
Brisbane, Australia, 24 July 2013.
Owen, G., “Smart meter roll-out in Great Britain”. Smart
Utilities Australia and New Zealand conference, Melbourne,
Australia, 26 November 2013.
Simons, S.J.R., “Going Low Carbon : The Approach of the
International Energy Policy Institute”. Four Societies Annual
Meeting, Sydney, Australia, 27 February 2013.
Simons, S.J.R., “Going Low Carbon Through Innovation
and Collaboration”. Australian Institute of Energy luncheon,
Perth, Australia, 18 April 2013.
Simons, S.J.R., “Operating in a Carbon Constrained Future:
Challenges and Opportunities”. Oil & Gas Summit, Perth,
Australia, 22 November 2013.
Styan, C.A., “Muddying the waters: the science of
protecting the environment during dredging”. PACIFIC 2013
- International Maritime Exposition, Sydney, Australia, 9
October 2013.
Styan, C.A. and Yap, E.H., “Can South Australia catch
the Ocean Renewable Energy wave?” Marine Science
to Support South Australia’s Blue Economy. Australian
Marine Science Association (South Australia) 9th Annual
Symposium, Adelaide, Australia, 16 October 2014.
Trenorden, C.L. (2014), Judicial Review and the Principles
of Ecologically Sustainable Development: Where are We
Going? National Environmental Law Conference, Sydney
Australia, 21 November 2014. Owen, G. Paper commissioned by the Australian Energy
Regulator: The potential role of Consumer Challenge in
energy network regulation in Australia. April 2013.
Owen, G., Simon, D. and Simons, S. Data Analysis of North
Adelaide Capacity Tariff Smart Meter Trial, Report to SA
Power Network, December 2013.
Simon, D. and Simons, S. Making Yorke and Mid North
Region Low Carbon Investment Ready, Phase 1 Final
Report, February 2014.
Simon, D. and Simons, S. Making Yorke and Mid North
Region Low Carbon Investment Ready, Phase 2 Final
Report, June 2014.
Simon, D. and Simons, S. Making Yorke and Mid North
Region Low Carbon Investment Ready, Final Project Report,
December 2014.
Simon, D. and Simons, S. Upper Spencer Gulf Renewable
Energy Strategy, Interim Report, December 2014.
Stevens, P., Simons, S.J.R. and De Silva, N. Shale Gas in
Australia: The Policy Options. UCL (Australia) Green Paper,
October 2013.
Styan, C.A. Assessment of Water Quality Criteria for the
Wheatstone Dredging Program. A review prepared for
Chevron Australia Pty Ltd. 47 pp, February 2014.
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Interactions across UCL:
UCL (Australia) is an integral part
of University College London. As
such, it interacts with colleagues
across UCL in a number of ways.
Collaboration on projects
In September 2014, a delegation of academic staff from STEaPP, led by the Head of
Department, Professor Jason Blackstock, visited UCL Australia to discuss possible areas
of collaboration.
Co-supervision of PhD students
Nelson Enano Jr: Professor Brian Collins, STEaPP
Mariya Koleva: Professor Lazaros Papageorgiou, Department of Chemical Engineering
Holly Niner: Dr Peter Jones, Department of Geography
Sayara Saliyeva: Professor Paola Lettieri, Department of Chemical Engineering
Carmen Wouters: Professor Eric Fraga, Department of Chemical Engineering
Yunyang Wu: Dr Mark Barrett, UCL Energy Institute.
Lectures and seminars
Dr Mark Barrett presented a lecture, via
video-conferencing, on the Energy Technologies Perspectives module in April 2013.
In October and November 2014, UCL Australia staff engaged in Initial meetings with
UCL London staff and students to discuss collaboration opportunities in community
engagement and capacity building, citizen science, sustainability and low carbon
energy generation especially as they relate to the UCL Grand Challenge of Resources
and Sustainable Cities. London participants included Muki Haklay, Steve Pye, Raimund
Bleischwitz, Michael Grubb, Michael Fell, Charlotte Johnson, and Joel Guilbaud.
Additional discussions will be scheduled for mid-January 2015 to follow up and develop
additional networking contacts.
The Principal Investigator for the HypFex project is Professor Jan-Peter Muller of the
Mullard Space Science Laboratory. He has visited MSSL Australia on three occasions
this year for discussions on the project and engagement with other stakeholders (CSIRO,
DSTO, University of Adelaide, ARA Flinders University, University of South Australia,
Department of State Development (SA), Geoscience Australia).
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The International Energy Policy Institute
University College London established the UCL
International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI) in 2012,
giving it a mission to consider global issues
surrounding investment in power generation
technologies, where liberalised power markets are
operating under carbon constraints.
This focus includes the complex interactions
and implications of technical, legal, financial and
environmental effects on power generation. IEPI
also examines the role of governments in energy
technology investment and the positive and negative
impacts on resource-rich nations – including the
‘resource curse’.
Value-adding to energy resources and assets,
particularly global uranium production, the
unconventional gas revolution and renewable
energy are also focal points for the research
programme – particularly the impact of policy
setting on communities, the environment and
energy transmission.
The IEPI was founded with major funding donations
from Santos and BHP Billiton. It draws further funding
from private and public programs, including a number
of power and energy companies.
Professor Stefaan Simons CEng FIChemE
BHP Billiton Chair and Director
International Energy Policy Institute
Director of Research
UCL Australia
Founded in 1826 with a Global Reputation for Teaching and Research
Currently Ranked 5 in the QS World University Rankings Industry-specific education
29 Nobel Prize winners among former students and academics
Ranked No.1 university in the UK for research strength in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework
UCL’s founders and members of UCL’s first Council - Jeremy Bentham, Henry Brougham and George Grote - inspired the founding of colonies in South Australia