NUMBER 206 | APRIL 2018 WENDY CRAIK, LORRAINE STEVENSON LACHLAN BLACKHALL INTERVIEW: MICHELLE SIMMONS Climate change People-powered Australia’s policies grids tech future WINDS OF CHANGE Australia’s energy future AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING 2018 ATSE Innovation Dinner and Clunies Ross Awards ATSE cordially invites you, your staff, guests and partners to attend the ATSE Innovation Dinner where the Clunies Ross Awards will be presented at the Sofitel Hotel, Melbourne on 13 June 2018. The Dinner provides a valuable networking opportunity and a chance to be part of the nation’s premier annual awards for innovation commercialisation. The Clunies Ross Awards are presented in three separate categories; DETAILS ■ Entrepreneur of the Year Wednesday 13 June 2018 Sofitel Hotel, Melbourne ■ Knowledge and Commercialisation The Grand Ballroom ■ Innovation 25 Collins Street, Melbourne Now in its 28th year of being presented, the Clunies Ross Awards $160 per person or $1,440 for a table of 10 will again recognise the outstanding applications of science and technology that provide economic, social and/or environmental 6.15pm Pre-dinner drinks 7.00pm Official proceedings benefit to Australia. Black tie optional This year’s Keynote speaker is the 2018 Australian of the Year, Registrations now open at Professor Michelle Simmons FAA FTSE, UNSW Professor of Quantum www.atse.org.au/InnovationDinner Physics and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre Mr Darryn Smart, of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Clunies Ross Knowledge Technology. Commercialisation Award 2017, Registrations now open. recipient, Email [email protected] with any enquiries. congratulated by Dr Leanna Read FTSE, Chief Scientist for South Australia. SUSTAINING GOLD SPONSOR SUSTAINING SILVER SPONSOR BRONZE SPONSOR GOLD SPONSOR AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING ATSE_CR_InnoDinn18_A4advert03.indd 1 9/4/18 2:18 pm APRIL 2018 | FOCUS Contents 10 Australian of the Year Michelle Simmons 5 News 4 From the President‘s desk 22 Is Australia serious 14 Australia can be a world about climate change? leader in energy storage 25 Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it‘s graphene BY BRUCE GODFREY 32 Risky bias in artificial intelligence 16 Value chains and 34 What does a future-ready PhD energy productivity graduate look like? BY JONATHAN JUTSEN 36 Women in technology 39 ATSE People 29 Reflections 45 Events on STELR 46 Book reviews By ALAN FINKEL PUBLISHER Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Address: Level 1, 1 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne ATSE Focus is produced to stimulate discussion and public policy initiatives on key topics of interest to Postal Address: the Academy and the nation. Many articles are contributed by ATSE Fellows with expertise in these areas. GPO Box 4055, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 Opinion articles will be considered for publication. Items between 800 and 1400 words are preferred. Telephone: 03 9864 0900 Please address comments, suggested topics and article for publication to [email protected]. 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Copyright © ATSE 2018 www.atse.org.au 3 FOCUS | APRIL 2018 From the President‘s desk Solving the energy trilemma WINDS OF CHANGE Australia‘s energy future e have three goals for our the ban by some state governments on secure supply – will become cheaper than energy supply, two of unconventional gas production, which traditional fossil-fuel-burning generation. which are uncontroversial: could possibly increase the supply of lower- The major issue is that there will be a deliver electricity at the cost gas (it is not clear that it will, but by period, probably of at least a couple of lowest cost to consumers removing inhibitions on its production it may decades, during which we shall need to and businesses,W and ensure that the supply encourage entrepreneurs to come up with replace our existing generating capacity is reliable and secure (the latter implies that different solutions). with these new solutions. enough electricity is available instantly when Similarly, it does not make any scientific The longer we delay the start of this required and the former that an event on the sense to prohibit the development of nuclear replacement cycle, the greater will be the grid – such as a wind turbine shutting down power generation. While there is widespread unnecessary pumping of CO2 into the due to a lack of wind – does not cause the scepticism regarding its economic viability, atmosphere. At present, a lack of clear grid to become unstable). a new generation of small modular reactors policy direction is delaying the investment Everyone agrees on those two, but may change this equation and, if that turned that is required to bring in this new unfortunately the third consideration, namely out to be the case, Australia would lag behind generation capacity. to reduce – actually remove – greenhouse the rest of the world. On the demand side, a new set of gas emissions from our electricity generators, The influence of technology is already technologies can also be used to reduce turns the rational discussion on energy into being felt due to the distribution of electricity requirements and also to an emotional debate. generation in the form of the 1.8 million improve the overall efficiency of the ATSE believes policy-makers should Australian households that are generating system end-to-end. set rules that allow the market to pick the their own electricity using solar cells. Our Overall, while there is much to winners in terms of the technologies we use electricity distribution system needs to catch be done, there is plenty of reason for to solve the energy trilemma. However, the up with this development through the use optimism as you will see from the articles rules must ensure that the playing field is of so-called ‘smart grid‘ technologies that from ATSE Fellows addressing the above level for all technologies. ‘Clean‘ energy is coordinate the central generators with the topics in this issue of Focus. currently more expensive (and we emphasise increasing number of distributed generators. currently because within a decade this will Of course, suppliers of variable renewable no longer be a consideration) than ‘dirty‘ electricity generated from the sun and wind energy (the latter coming from burning oil, need to ensure 24-hour supply through the coal or gas, all of which release CO2 into the use of energy storage. While there has been atmosphere, unless carbon capture and a lot of noise in the media about whether storage is added to the generation system). renewables can achieve continuous supply, This raises a predicament for policy- the answer is very clearly that they can. It will PROFESSOR HUGH BRADLOW FTSE makers as to whether they should set a price require storage but the massive investments on carbon emissions or subsidise renewables going into batteries and other grid storage to level the playing field. However, to achieve solutions (such as pumped hydro and super- technology neutrality governments also capacitors) give us confidence that we shall need to avoid emotional bans on certain be able to meet this need. technologies that are not based on evidence. On the current technology trajectory, For example, there is no evidence to support the cost of renewables – with reliable and 4 www.atse.org.au APRIL 2018 | FOCUS NEWS South Australian election voter compass The tech revolution shows no signs of SA Best, the Liberal Party, the Labor Party and reducing the need to import power from slowing, and South Australia runs the risk the SA Greens urging a number of policies the NEM at peak power prices; of lagging behind the rest of the world if that, if implemented, would help South ¢being the first mover for 5G infrastructure; the new government does not embrace Australia thrive. and ongoing innovation. “We put forward key technology policy ¢evidence-based analysis of the role of issues so that the public could judge the genetic technology in the food of the future. That was the message promoted by competing political parties against these in Other policies ranged across industry ATSE in the run-up to the state election in order to help them decide,” ATSE President and innovation, energy, health technology, March, encouraging parties and voters to Hugh Bradlow said. agriculture and water. make technology policy a priority in political “It’s a vote compass for technology Responses were received from Labor and debates. policy.” the Greens. In the weeks before the election, ATSE Policies and priorities included: submitted a document to the offices of ¢urgently ensuring power reliability, Visit atse.org.au for more information. AI EMBRACED BY VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT obots visited the Parliament of Victoria last month for the launch of change and then work out how we, as a community and society, can Rthe Victorian All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence.