Australia's Governor-General, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, and Her Excellency Mrs Marlena Jeffery have visited UNSW to learn more about our pioneering solar hydrogen research project.
Their visit to the Centre for Materials Research in Energy Conversion was hosted by the Dean of Science, Professor Mike Archer, and his wife Dr Suzanne Hand.
Their Excellencies were briefed on the Centre's work by its director, Professor Janusz Nowotny, and Professor Charles Sorrell and post-graduate researcher Mr Leigh Sheppard.
The Centre is an acknowledged leader in developing new and more efficient types of titanium dioxide, the light-sensitive material that acts as a catalyst to split water into hydrogen and oxygen when it is exposed to sunlight.
Professor Nowotny explained to their Excellencies that when the process becomes efficient enough it could be exploited to provide essentially limitless amounts of clean energy, using three resources that Australia has in abundance - sunlight, titanium and sea water.
The process has no harmful by-products, he notes: indeed, it has the additional advantage that it works best in sea-water and the by-product would be fresh water - a resource in scarce supply in Australia.
Professor Archer described solar hydrogen as the cleanest, greenest energy option for a sustainable economy.
"The potential market for hydrogen energy is huge, equal to the combined markets for coal, natural gas and oil," he said.
Solar hydrogen would also be compatible with coal during the transition of the economy from fossil-fuels to hydrogen fuels, he said, and could be used to extract energy more efficiently from coal.
Australia could in future also become a major exporter of hydrogen energy, as it is now with coal and natural gas.
Professor Sorrell also briefed their excellencies about related research into the uses of titanium dioxide, notably its incoporation into environmentally friendly building materials. They include self-cleaning bricks, tiles and windows, for example, as well as surface coatings to protect surfaces from the damaging effects of pollution. The compound can also be used to remove impurities from air and water.

The Governor-General is the representative of Australia's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

For an earlier report on our solar hydrogen work, click here

For contacts with the solar hydrogen group, click here

UNSW Faculty of Science media liaison: Bob Beale (mobile phone) 0411 705 435