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This paper explores the skills landscape of the emerging green hydrogen industry in Australia drawing on data collected from a study that gathered insights on training gaps from a range of hydrogen industry participants. A total of 41 industry participants completed a survey and 14 of those survey respondents participated in industry consultations. The findings revealed widespread perceptions of training and skilling as being very important to the industry, but under-provisioned across the sector. Data were analysed to consider the problem of skilling the green hydrogen industry and the barriers and enablers as perceived by industry stakeholders. In this paper we argue that urgent cross-sector attention needs to be paid to hydrogen industry training and skill development systems in Australia if the promise of green hydrogen as a clean energy source is to be realised. • Cross-sector collaboration is needed to support education and training on hydrogen energy. • Insufficient training is available to support skill development in hydrogen energy. • Training on electrolysers, fuel cells, hydrogen storage and refuelling stations is most needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is considered a key energy vector and carrier for the decarbonization of global energy systems. However, the economics of green hydrogen systems hinder their widespread application. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis of a green hydrogen production system using high-temperature water electrolysis integrated with a concentrated solar power system (CSP-SOEC) for Western Australia. Real-time solar resource data with 30-min resolution for a typical meteorological year were used to assess the performance of the entire system. The intermittent nature of solar resources is accounted for by integrating the system with a thermal energy storage medium and performing the analysis in off-design mode. The validity of the electrolysis stack model is crucial for overall system performance, which was confirmed through experimental testing conducted on a 15-cell stack. The system was designed to generate a 1 MWe output, and the results showed that a field area of 29,000 m2 and thermal energy storage capacity of 382,500 kWh can fulfil the design criteria. The system generates 0.86 tonne/day of hydrogen at a cost of 8.87 US$/kg-H 2 with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 13.80 %. The cost breakdown revealed that the storage medium has the most significant contribution. Moreover, the sensitivity of the system to the production capacity was analyzed, which showed that larger-scale hydrogen production systems have the potential to further reduce the cost. An 8 MWe system has the capacity to produce 7.18 tonne/day of hydrogen at a cost of 6.1 US$/kg-H 2. The molten salt is currently utilized only 39.3 % for the hydrogen production process. To optimize resource utilization, a cogeneration system is devised and assessed for simultaneous steam and hydrogen production. The results reveal that the cogeneration system can achieve an LCOH reduction of 9 % by reaching 8.07 US$/kg-H 2. These findings are invaluable for academic and industry stakeholders in making informed decisions and fostering the green hydrogen sector in Australia. • A techno economic assessment of green H 2 production for Australia is done. • The electrolysis model is corroborated using experimental results. • The cost of green H 2 for such system in Australia is 8.87 US$/kg-H 2. • Higher production capacity favors the system economics. • The cogeneration system reduces the cost by 9 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging industries and technologies are made up of objective, practical requirements and ideas that encompass broad hopes for what future newness might enable. The bioeconomy is one such emerging industry. Its recent evolution has involved a complicated and dynamic mix of promises, reality checks and subsequent ambivalences. This article frames and investigates the emerging algae-based bioplastics industry as one niche within this broader system envisaged for social, technological, economic, political and ecological change. As such, our paper presents two categories of knowledge that in practice interrelate: 1) specific and practical recommendations that can assist a future algal-based bioplastics industry to develop in Australia in ways that are conscious of socio-ecological and socio-cultural dimensions, and 2) critical extensions that go beyond the attributes of newness, impact, suddenness and universality often emphasised in both popular and scientific research into emerging green technologies. In particular, our analysis highlights the importance of specific temporal, tonal and spatial factors when framing the contextual factors associated emerging industries, technologies and the different pathways for change they might help support. • Pathways and enabling factors for a algal-based bioplastics industry in regional Australia are presented. • The 'social idea' of the bioeconomy is analysed with reference to algal-based bioplastics. • The algal-based bioplastics industry is contextualised in relation to transition pathways literatureon the bioeconomy. • Themes and recommendations are synthesised from literature review and semi-structured interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain. • Case study for ammonia trade between Australia and Germany in 2030. • Sensitivity analysis on ammonia prices for technical and economic parameters. • Cost comparison of conventional and green ammonia production. This paper contributes to understanding the transformation of global energy trade to green energy carriers, focusing on green ammonia as the foreseeable first green hydrogen carrier. We provide a comprehensive overview of today's ammonia trade and assess scaling options for the trade of green ammonia. To that aim, we develop an optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain that covers all steps from green ammonia production in an exporting country, up to delivery to a harbor in an importing country. The model endogenously chooses among different technology options and determines cost minimal operation. In a case study, we apply the model to the large-scale import of ammonia from Australia to Germany in a scenario for 2030. The results show that green ammonia can reach cost parity with gray ammonia even for moderate gas prices (but not necessarily with blue ammonia) if CO 2 prices are high enough. We also provide a sensitivity analysis with respect to the interest rate and other key technical and economic parameters and show that cracking ammonia to provide pure hydrogen comes at a 45 % cost markup per MWh at the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value-added trade has increased rapidly in recent decades in the context of globalisation. This paper aims to measure the energy embodied in the value-added trade and the ecological relationships in the networks of the international construction industries. A hybrid method which combines ecological network analysis and the input–output method has been adopted. The direct energy intensities in most countries ranged from 0 to 3.0 trillion joules per million US$ and the dominant relationships were control and exploitation in the selected 15 years. For the construction sector, the negative relationships were dominant at 63.9% in Australia and 79.19% in China. The ratio of positive relationships increased from 24.3% to 31.5%, while the ratio of negative relationships declined from 75.7% to 68.5% over the 15 years. The mutualism index ranged from 0.72 to 0.98 over the 15 years, maintaining a value less than 1. In contrast, the synergism index had an increase of 12.2 over the 15 years. The results indicate that both direct energy intensity and the value-added ratio are important factors in relation to the energy embodied in value-added trade. Sectoral influence on the national industrial system has been interpreted in this paper to stimulate further research. • The energy embodied in the value-added trade of the international construction industries. • The combination of ecological and economic connections in an analysis of value-added trade. • The influence of specific construction sectors on the network depending on flow capacity. • The exploitation and control relationships that dominate the value-added trade system. • The balance between the value-added ratio and energy intensity in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illegal firewood collection has a series of unintended environmental, economic, and public safety impacts associated with harvesting undermining the development of a sustainable firewood industry. In this paper, we present Tasmanian firewood consumers with a labelling system and explore their willingness to pay for labelled firewood. We employ a discrete choice experiment with 239 potential firewood consumers. We estimate consumers' willingness to pay for different sources of firewood, coming from different distances, and whether it is important for a share of the proceeds to be invested in social or environmental priorities. To account for preference heterogeneity, we estimate a two−class latent class model and mixed multinomial logit model. The results from the first class of the latent class model and mixed multinomial logit model suggest that consumers are willing to pay a premium for repurposed wood, firewood sourced from agroforestry−based operations, proceeds invested in wildlife conservation, or the firewood comes from sites closer to their residence. The second class from the latent class model is characterized by consumers who are concerned only with the cost. Our survey respondents prefer their firewood to be accredited and regulated by independent non − profit bodies such as the Firewood Association of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities must transform in order to address the challenge of climate change and to achieve societal ambitions such as the sustainable development goals. However, a key impediment to achieving transformation is underdeveloped understandings of how key actors and sectors within the built environment work together to achieve goals. This paper addresses these gaps by developing and visually presenting a process map to describe: the key processes involved in producing the built environment across its life stages; key sectors of the built environment, their key actors, and the activities coordinated between them. The process map was peer reviewed by an expert reference group of built environment professionals active in Australia and the UK. The motivation for developing this process map is to facilitate future research to identify and expedite opportunities for coordinated action to address significant societal challenges such as climate change action, and the sustainable development goals – which require transformative action in cities. • Cities must transform to address climate change • We develop a process map to describe the production of the built environment • Process map describes fundamental activities for producing the built environment • Process map spans built environment life stages; identifying activities and interactions of key sectors and actors • Can be applied to inform transformative action targeted at challenges such as climate change [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]