Energy
Queensland’s electric power network operates as part of the national power grid, which is developing and adopting smart systems and technology to efficiently manage power use. The state also has a regulatory environment that supports the use and development of renewable transport fuels.
Queensland is ideally placed to be a world leader in the development of renewable energy sources. The state boasts a combination of world-class researchers and a long-term competitive advantage in the production of key alternative fuel feedstocks such as sugarcane and grains—particularly sorghum.
Supplying reliable, affordably energy that is also sustainable is about the greatest challenge that our society faces.
Professor Chris Greig
Director, UQ Energy Initiative Director
Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation
With some of the best solar resources in the world, Queensland is home to innovative research into solar storage and new technologies enabling energy system integration. Explore the interactive power generation map to find out where Queensland’s renewable generating facilities are, and how they contribute to our energy mix.
Led by the Department of Energy and Public Works the Queensland Government has set a target for one million rooftops or 3000 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) in Queensland by 2020 and is developing a credible pathway to achieving 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.
The Queensland Government’s Department of State Development is leading Australia’s bio-economic revolution through the Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan. The Plan includes: the establishment of Biofutures Queensland, a dedicated unit in the Queensland Government; a Biofutures Industry Development Fund; a Biofutures Scale-Up Program; and a Biofutures Acceleration Program. The State Government’s investment in a range of initiatives is helping position Queensland as an Asia-Pacific hub for biofutures industries.
Queensland has nine universities including three of Australia's largest, a number of which undertake energy research. Details of 200 plus research centres in Queensland are available by searching the Queensland science capability directory.
Leading energy research
Find out why top researchers and industry leaders are saying Queensland is one of the best places in the world for energy research.
Find out why top researchers and industry leaders are saying Queensland is one of the best places in the world for energy research.
View Energy video with Chinese subtitles
Energy research centres
Key research collaborations between industry and leading universities are focused on developing alternative energy sources such as biofuels and biogas and related new technologies. More than 75 institutes, facilities, precincts, laboratories and other research organisations are involved in the energy science sector including:
- Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC)
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)
- Australian National Fabrication Facility - Griffith University Node (ANFF-Q)
- Australian National Fabrication Facility - UQ Node (ANFF-Q)
- Banyo Pilot Plant
- Baosteel-Australia Joint Research and Development Centre (BAO-JRDC)
- Bond University
- Central Queensland University - Brisbane (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Bundaberg (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Cairns (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Gladstone (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Mackay (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Rockhampton (CQUniversity)
- Central Queensland University - Townsville (CQUniversity)
- Centre for Actuarial and Financial Big Data Analytics (CAFBDA)
- Centre for Agricultural Engineering (CAE)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (CABEN)
- Centre for Astrophysics (CA)
- Centre for Clean Environment and Energy (CCEE)
- Centre for Future Materials (CFM)
- Centre for Intelligent Systems (CIS)
- Centre for Macroalgal Resources and Biotechnology (MACRO)
- Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (CMM)
- Centre for Natural Gas
- Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE)
- Centre for Railway Engineering (CRE)
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS)
- Cities Research Institute (CRI)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
- Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction (CRC ORE)
- Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF)
- Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation (Dow Centre)
- Energy Business Unit (EBU)
- Exploration Data Centre (GSQ)
- Forest Industries Research Centre
- Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ)
- Global Change Institute (GCI)
- Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct
- Griffith University - Gold Coast (GU)
- Griffith University - Nathan (GU)
- Institute for Future Environments (IFE)
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB)
- James Cook University - Cairns (JCU)
- James Cook University - Townsville (JCU)
- John Campbell Miles Drill Core Facility (GSQ)
- Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (SMI-JKMRC)
- Life Sciences Queensland Ltd (LSQ)
- Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant (MRBPP)
- Nanomaterials Centre (Nanomac)
- National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF)
- Queensland Bioscience Precinct (QBP)
- Queensland Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM)
- Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies (QCAT)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - CQU (QCIF)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - GU (QCIF)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - JCU (QCIF)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - QUT (QCIF)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - UQ (QCIF)
- Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation - USQ (QCIF)
- Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence (QGECE)
- Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC)
- Queensland University of Technology - Gardens Point (QUT)
- Queensland University of Technology - Kelvin Grove (QUT)
- Research Computing Centre (RCC)
- Samford Ecological Research Facility (SERF)
- Sugar Research Australia Limited (SRA)
- Sugar Research Institute (SRI)
- Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI)
- The University of Queensland - Gatton (UQ)
- The University of Queensland - Herston (UQ)
- The University of Queensland - St Lucia (UQ)
- University of Southern Queensland - Ipswich (USQ)
- University of Southern Queensland - Springfield (USQ)
- University of Southern Queensland - Toowoomba (USQ)
- University of the Sunshine Coast - Fraser Coast (USC)
- University of the Sunshine Coast - Gympie (USC)
- University of the Sunshine Coast - Sunshine Coast (USC)
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB)
- Visualisation and eResearch (ViseR)