The energy transformation is an urgent, complex, and multifaceted problem that cuts across technological, environmental, economic, organisational and social domains.
Large-scale, cross-system changes are needed while maintaining operational performance. Not only must multi-energy systems decarbonize to net-zero by 2050, but they must also do so reliably, affordably, and equitably in a changing climate. Three interwoven recognitions must be considered:
- First, the disciplines associated with historically siloed energy domains (electricity, hydrogen, natural gas, oil, and coal) are becoming increasingly interdependent. Electrification, for example, has become an enabler and driver for decarbonisation in other sectors along with alternative fuels and industry emission reduction technologies. There are more dependencies and more dynamics emerging in the system across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
- Second, the energy end-user can no longer be considered a passive participant served by infrastructure operators but rather an integral and active participant in the multi-energy system’s operation and transformation.
- Finally, the ubiquitous availability of digital technologies opens unprecedent opportunities for data-driven and physically informed analysis and artificial intelligence methods that can enhance energy system forecasting and real-time operation as well as enable a range of multi-energy system scenarios and futures to be explored.
Topics
CSIRO is seeking proposals that draw on the latest advances in fields such as energy systems and power systems engineering, environmental science, social science, complex systems modelling, digital systems, and physics-informed artificial intelligence to address one or more of the following areas:
- Integrated multi-energy system transformation including the practical realities of installed assets and carbon, water and land-use constraints.
- Integration and optimisation of Distributed Energy Resources (assets, data and services) with specific focus on system performance, social acceptance, and energy equity.
- Multi-energy system digitalisation (data, connectivity, algorithms and control) considering architecture, data access, interoperability, security, privacy, and computational efficiency aspects.
All proposals aligned with this theme should contain a section that clearly describes how the proposed solution is complementary to CSIRO’s Smart Energy Mission.