All about our natural world

The design approach for premise water supply systems in Australia has not significantly changed since the 1970s; however, our total water consumption per capita has almost halved. Recent research conducted at Deakin University on 4 standard Australian apartment buildings shows that the observed peak water demands are less than 30% of the nominal design values endorsed by the current plumbing standard. The significant discrepancy means our plumbing systems are systematically oversized. But bigger is not always better. On-going research aims to develop tools to enable optimal design of plumbing systems. 

Explore the transformation of aquaculture through circular economy principles, focusing on sustainable raw materials and innovative feed formulations. This presentation will highlight the journey towards a more resilient, environmentally friendly aquaculture industry, critical for feeding our growing global population in a sustainable manner.

Metals are critical to clean energy and low carbon technologies. They are key components of batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. Growing demand for these technologies requires huge amounts of metal-containing minerals to be extracted from the earth. However, many of the technologies used to separate minerals and extract metals are technologically, economically and environmentally unsustainable, having not advanced much in the last 50 years. The world needs new, more efficient ways to recover minerals. Ellen's research seeks to reduce the water use in minerals processing, and to increase mineral recovery by stopping valuable minerals ending up in waste streams.