Australia's Energy Research Investment Crisis with Dani Alexander

Dr. Greg Trainor speaks with Dani Alexander, CEO of UNSW Energy Institute, about Australia's energy research landscape and the alarming decline in R&D investment. Despite UNSW's proud legacy—including inventing the modern solar cell and vanadium redox flow battery—public energy R&D has halved over the past decade while deployment spending tripled. Dani reveals why Australia now invests just 0.03% of GDP in energy innovation compared to 0.06% a decade ago, and warns this threatens our ability to become a renewable energy innovation superpower. The conversation covers UNSW's three strategic pillars: consumer-led transformation, grid decarbonisation, and export opportunities in green commodities. Dani also discusses the Sunspot calculator, transport sector challenges, AI's double-edged impact, and why the global energy workforce shortage has become a key barrier to achieving net zero.

(00:00) Introduction and UNSW Energy Institute's role

(03:00) Solar legacy: PERC cells and Australia's manufacturing opportunity

(20:00) Consumer focus and the Sunspot independent calculator

(34:00) Investment crisis: energy R&D halved while deployment tripled

(42:00) Three strategic objectives and buying into the transformation

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Wired For Energy is a production of Network Edge, with episodes produced and edited by Posterboy Media.

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