Mining the sun for renewable energy: lecture

New technologies - including solar technologies - are required to reduce energy consumption, costs and impacts, according to Professor Gus Nathan.
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Professor Gus Nathan, Director, Centre for Energy Technology.
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Monday, 11 July 2011

The development of solar energy and the key role of the mining sector in leading the way will be the focus of a free public lecture held by the University of Adelaide this Wednesday 13 July.

Professor Aldo Steinfeld, one of the world's foremost researchers in solar energy technology, will join experts from the University of Adelaide and Santos. They will discuss the emerging opportunities to integrate concentrated solar radiation into mining and mineral processing operations and how mining companies can lead the way with the development of energy technologies.

"The mining and resources sector is a vital part of the Australian and South Australian economies and the largest contributor to South Australia's exports," says Professor Gus Nathan, Director of the University's Centre for Energy Technology.

"But both mining and minerals processing are energy-intensive industries and they contribute significantly to national CO2 emissions and are vulnerable to energy price increases and carbon pricing mechanisms. New technologies are required to reduce energy consumption, costs and impacts."

'Mining the Sun' is being held by the Centre for Energy Technology, part of the University's Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources, in association with the Environment Institute and the Royal Institution of Australia.

The speakers are: Professor Aldo Steinfeld, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich; Professor Gus Nathan; and Susie Smith, Manager Climate Change and Sustainability, Santos.

The lecture will be moderated by Professor Stephen Grano, Direct of the Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources.

Professor Steinfeld is at the University of Adelaide this week as a keynote speaker at the 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Technologies, 10-13 July.

WHAT: Mining the Sun: free public lecture
WHERE: Royal Institution, The Science Exchange, Exchange Place, Adelaide
WHEN: Wednesday 13 July at 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
COST: Free but bookings required through the RIAus on www.riaus.org.au/

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