Current activities

CSIRO Advanced Coal Technology aims to develop technical solutions that can maintain the benefits Australia’s coal resources, while at the same time minimising the adverse environmental impacts of coal mining and coal-fired power generation.

This is critical to our nation as thermal and metallurgical coal represent Australia’s largest export earner, while at the same time coal mining and use accounts for some 40 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions.

With world coal use for electricity projected to double over the next 25 years the development of technologies to mitigate the associated emissions is critical for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CSIRO is partnering with industry, research organisations and government around Australia and overseas to develop research and development solutions to these issues.

The breadth of Advanced Coal Technology’s research includes:

• increasing the efficiency and safety of underground and surface mining
• lowering fugitive emissions from mining activities
• developing new coal-based low emission technologies for electricity generation
• delivering financially viable carbon capture and storage technologies. 

  Dr Carras has authored or co-authored more than 160 publications.

Background

Dr Carras took up the role as Director of CSIRO Advanced Coal Technology in July 2009, bringing with him a depth of research experience and technical knowledge related to energy generation and emissions.

His expertise includes:

• quantification of greenhouse gas and other air pollution emissions from energy and industrial activities including power stations, metal smelters, motor vehicles and urban regions
• the transport and diffusion of pollutants in the atmosphere
• quantification of fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from coal mining, especially seam gas and spontaneous combustion in open cut coal mines
• energy technology options for greenhouse gas reduction
• carbon dioxide interaction and storage in deep coal seams.

Before taking on his current role, Dr Carras was the Deputy Chief and Chief Scientist for CSIRO’s Energy Technology Division, where he was responsible for the overall quality and direction of the research.

The Division’s research activities included distributed generation, fugitive emissions, low emissions coal use, solar thermal and organic photovoltaics, electrochemical energy storage, fuel cells and energy modelling.

Academic qualifications

Dr Carras holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Doctor Of Philosophy in Physics from the University of Western Australia.

Achievements

Dr Carras has authored or co-authored more than 160 publications including journal and conference papers, reports to government and industry, book chapters and specialist encyclopaedia articles.

He was the lead author for Fugitive Emissions from Coal Mining that forms part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (2006) and was a contributor to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC in 2007.

Dr Carras is a member of a number of energy-related boards and committees including the Editorial Board for the IPCC Emissions Factor Database and the Journal of Greenhouse Gas Measurement & Management.

He is also Chairman of the Australian Consortium of the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Program.

Read more about Energy from coal.