Chemmat researchers Dr Wei Yu and Prof Brent Young are key researchers of a multi-disciplinary team from Auckland, Massey and Waikato Universities and industry collaborators that were recently awarded $12.5 million over 7 years to develop an Advanced Energy Technology Platform called Ahuora. Ahuora is an adaptive digital twin technology platform to assist in solving the process heat emissions challenge by re-engineering the way we use, convert, provision and store energy for process heat (Figure 1).
Figure: The Ahuora Platform
Reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in NZ will require disruptive decarbonisation technology in the process heat sector. This is the primary challenge tackled by Ahuora. Aligning with the consensus of national (Productivity Commission, EECA, MBIE, CCC) and international (IPCC, IEA) agencies, our focus is on developing the technology platform, underpinned by energy systems science, to enable effective and efficient electrification of the process heat sector while leveraging and expanding NZ’s abundant renewable energy resources. The impact of our technology platform will be critical for decarbonising the process heat sector, which currently releases about 8.3 Mt-CO2-e or 28% of energy-related emissions in NZ. Industrial process heat (70% of industrial energy demand) underpins domestic manufacturing, being an indispensable driving force behind NZ’s $59 billion in exports in 2019.
The program will involve several Masters’ students, PhDs and Postdocs working across the Ahuora platform. If you are interested in a position with the team or want to participate as a collaborator in the research, Dr Yu (w.yu@auckland.ac.nz, 09 923 5027) and Prof Young (b.young@auckland.ac.nz, 09 923 5606) would be happy to hear from you.
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