Sustainability

Advocating for turning off equipment when not in use; always switching off monitors at the end of the day; lowering the sashes on fumehoods when not in use; changing the set temperature of ultra-low temp (ULT) freezers from -80^oC to -70^oC. All strategies save energy and in the case of the ULT can save up to 40%.

Worked with administration to have fair trade and/or rainforest alliance tea, coffee, and sugar in the department tearoom; promoting the “Green Caffeen” reusable cups (found at many cafes on campus); initiated discussions about having a food waste bin in the tearoom and a collection point for ice packs in our building that can then be reused by researchers or donated to external businesses via Pack share.

Promoting ride to work: Darryl encouraged the team to attend the ride to work event, provided data on the bike infrastructure on campus (repair points, bike cages and hubs, change rooms and showers). As a result, the MCFP team members that worked in Parkville campus in 2023, used in 95% of cases public transport/cycled/walked to commute to work.

To mark 10 years of enabling research at the University of Melbourne, the Materials Characterisation and Fabrication Platform (MCFP) created a new initiative, the MCFP Sustainability Research Grants.

The grants were created to provide much needed seed-funding for projects that address critical issues related to environmental conservation, renewable energy, climate change mitigation, sustainable development, etc. You can read more about the 2024 outcomes below.

Concrete contributes enormously to the carbon footprint of the building and construction sectors. Our capabilities are enabling researchers to develop more sustainable concretes, through the incorporation of recycled materials, and test their properties against conventional concretes.

Our researchers leverage the breadth of the MCFP capabilities to develop and study novel materials for the capture and storage of energy. From light-harvesting nanomaterials, to flexible energy-generation textiles, and ultra-efficient batteries.

Membrane technologies play a large role in the separation of gases and liquids from one another in waste and other streams. Our researchers use the high resolution and sensitivity of our capabilities to look at the internal structure of these membranes and how nanoscale variation improve their performance.

Ensuring food security into the future is of significant importance in our world of ever-growing population density. We are enabling researchers to develop new biofertilisers synthesised by recovering nutrients from human urine in waste streams towards sustainable and circular agriculture.