MRIWA’s research scope to expand into clean energy and emissions reduction

Announced by Hon Bill Johnston MLA at MRIWA’s Net Zero Emission Mining WA Conference 2022, MRIWA’s research scope will soon be expanded to enable it to support research into clean energy and emission reduction.

Whilst MRIWA can currently support projects related to its priority theme of Energy Utilisation in the context of minerals research applications, the expanded scope will enable funding for broader research and development in this area.

Though many clean energy technologies are well established, significant technological barriers remain. Specific application of clean energy solutions at scale, particularly in heavy and extractive industries, remains a challenge.

MRIWA’s scope expansion will support the State Government’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, by providing additional research and development funding, support for key technologies and delivery of strategic initiatives to accelerate the net zero transition.

In parallel to legislative amendments to the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia Act 2013, a revised Research Priority Plan will be developed to outline the research direction for the expanded scope as well as capturing research priorities in other recent focus areas announced by MRIWA.

The MRIWA team will shortly commence a consultation process to identify and prioritise high impact research areas.