CENTRE FOR ENERGY
Centre for Health Behaviour
The Centre for Energy operates four research programs. The Research Program on Low Emission Coal has an emphasis on abatement of greenhouse gases, with scientific research underpinning technologies for carbon capture and storage, such as oxyfuel, post-combustion capture, gasification, chemical looping and minerals sequestration. The research includes coal reactions, combustion and gasification, emissions, and impact of carbon capture for retrofitted units as well as new plant. Emissions from current pf plant are also included. The Program involves interaction with technology demonstrations within Australia and international developments.
The Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour strives to improve community health through service delivery interventions promoting healthy behaviours and quality healthcare. Led by its highly experienced Director, Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher, the PRCHB brings together a number of separate research groups to harness their combined wealth of research expertise. These groups include: • Hunter New England Population Health (HNEPH) • Health Behaviour Research Group (HBRG) • Discipline of Health Behaviour Sciences • Behavioural Science Strategic Research Partnership (STREP) • The School of Psychology • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) • Maddison Collaboration.
The goal of the Research Program on Renewable Energy Systems is to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and hence minimise greenhouse gas emissions, by increasing the share of renewables in our energy mix. The Program focuses on development of novel systems/ processes for more efficient and viable utilisation of renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind and geothermal. The research underpinning the Program covers fundamental and applied aspects of renewable energy systems. including biomass combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis, design of novel wind turbines, as well as geothermal power cycles and hot dry rock technology for geothermal power generation. The Research Program on Transportation Fuels and Energy Conversion concentrates on converting hydrogen to chemicals such as methanol (from CO2) and ammonia (from N2). These products can serve as fuels or chemical feedstocks. The Program examines new and novel developments in electrochemical energy generation, as well as optimisation of energy usage on electrical power grids. The Program also investigates the synthesis of hydrogen from fossil fuels such as coal, biomass and natural gas. The Research Program on Energy and the Environment focuses on sustainable and integrated waste processing/utilisation with energy recovery and generation. Other areas of interest in this Program include energy efficient housing, industrial ecology, knowledge systems, sustainability principles and measurement, energy minimisation and recovery, environmental repair and pollution abatement. www.newcastle.edu.au/research-centre/energy
Centre for Gender, Health and Ageing The Priority Research Centre for Gender, Health and Ageing is a dynamic, crossdisciplinary research group that researches individual, health care and societal factors that affect men and women’s health and wellbeing throughout life and as they age. The Centre also examines the ways in which communities respond to an ageing population. The Centre utilises the University’s acclaimed research capacities across public health/ policy, clinical and basic science disciplines. Its core focii are to maximise analyses of longitudinal and linked data; undertake observational, experimental and translational studies in relation to gender, health and ageing; research appropriate use of medications and other health care resources; and evaluate innovative approaches to caring for older people. The broad research capacity of the Centre supports partnerships with industry, government and other institutions, as well as collaboration with other Universities both in Australia and internationally. The Centre membership includes academics with expertise in health and clinical sciences, psychology, sociology, health economics, epidemiology, statistics and architecture, all of which contribute to understanding biological, social and environmental factors that affect the health of men and women as they age. The Centre also includes two World Health Organisation Collaborating Centres.
The Centres’ research focuses on social and individual factors that affect the health of populations, developing measures and interventions for reducing prevalence of preventable disease risks while increasing equitable and evidence-based health care delivery. The Centre works to assess and reduce the psychosocial impacts of chronic disease and is involved in improving responses to emerging infectious disease threats. The Centre combines researchers from a variety of fields including psychology, public health, medicine, nutrition and dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing to carry out high quality, intervention-focused health behaviour research targeting key public health issues. www.newcastle.edu.au/researchcentre/health-behaviour
www.newcastle.edu.au/research-centre/gha
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