Melbourne Energy Institute

The energy futures debate has engendered a new cooperative focus between the materials and earth sciences, arising specifically out of interest in the complex resource requirements of many new energy technologies. Examples of new energy commodities include indium and gallium, used in thin-film and multi-junction photovoltaic cells; lithium, a key component of electric vehicle batteries; and platinum, which has emerged as a superb catalyst for fuel cells.

Given our increasing awareness that many of the Earth’s resources are finite,  there has been concern regarding some of the more exotic materials being adapted to energy technology. There is a serious risk that some technologies will emerge stillborn if they cannot be serviced by adequate levels of the constituent resource.

It is critical to try to improve information on new energy commodities so that the efforts of companies, investors and others involved in energy research, are guided by a better understanding of the earth’s fundamental material capabilities and limitations. The Melbourne Energy Institute, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne School of Earth Sciences, is developing new analytical methods which will aid in assessing and quantifying many energy-related commodities.

For more information, please contact Prof Mike Sandiford