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TAPPING INTO AUSTRALIA'S UNIQUE HOT ENERGY RESOURCES
8 May 2008

Australia is uniquely endowed with heat-producing elements under its surface that could provide potentially unlimited amounts of geothermal power for this country, says geoscientist Dr Sandra McLaren.

Dr McLaren will speak about her research into Australia's heat-producing elements, and their potential for future energy production, at the Academy of Science's peak annual event Science at the Shine Dome today.

Dr McLaren is winner of the Australian Academy of Science's Dorothy Hill award for women in geoscience.

She says that west of the line between Cairns and the mouth of the Murray River lies a belt of rocks containing the enriched elements uranium, thorium, and potassium that are around 1.5 billion years old. These enriched elements are essentially a heat source located in the upper part of our continental crust.

'Our status as one of the most prospective countries in the world for geothermal power generation is due to this extraordinary enrichment in uranium. That's because when we bury these enriched rocks, even beneath only about two or three kilometres of sediment, they're capable of generating extremely high temperatures which we can use to generate geothermal power.'

She says that nuclear power and geothermal power use the same source of fuel – enriched uranium.

'The fundamental difference between the two energy options is the degree to which the uranium is enriched in a particular spot, and the way in which we choose to use it. So, although as geoscientists we are aware of this resource, there is still a lot of work we can do in assessing and documenting it and developing new exploration strategies and, further down the track, new technology to exploit this.

'Its an extraordinary resource that we have. Its had profound impact on our geological past, and we're at the point in time, in terms of society, of making a choice of what to do with that resource into the future.

'We have on average 2-3 times the normal concentration of uranium, thorium and potassium in the crust, so we're in a better position than probably any other country in the world to generate this type of geothermal energy.'

In terms of the future of geothermal power in Australia she says: 'Its potentially unlimited in terms of the actual resource. I think the thing that's going to constrain how and when we can use this resource for generating power is more on the engineering side, more understanding how to exploit it once we've identified how much is there.

'The exploration companies in Australia are used to exploring for base metals and gold and metallic resources. Exploring for geothermal energy is a different ask all together and we really need to develop a framework to get better data sets for us to assess different resources and better ways of looking for them.'

On receiving the Academy's award she said:

'It was a great surprise to hear that I was going to be awarded the Dorothy Hill [award]. Obviously it's an enormous honour to be awarded the prize in Dorothy's name. I've done a little bit of reading on Dorothy's work and her achievements, and her life-long commitment to science and education are pretty awe-inspiring, and an inspiration to women in all fields of academia, particularly geology.'

Having previously attended Science at the Shine Dome in 2000, Dr McLaren said it was '...a fabulous experience as a finishing PhD student to see the breadth of science that goes on in Australia and to be exposed to different fields and different areas...'

On women in science she says:

'In geosciences particularly, there still aren't a huge number of women, it's still very hard for women. I think women bring a wonderful perspective to science. It is a wonderful career to pursue, everyday is a challenge [and] you're solving problems that impact on society.

'From my reading that was one of the things Dorothy Hill was driven by: the belief that science can produce a better society, and if that's seen as the goal, then I think it's a wonderful thing for women to pursue, and they should be encouraged to do so, particularly at secondary school level.'

Science at the Shine Dome is the Academy's annual celebration of science. It highlights the research achievements of some of Australia's leading scientists.

Event:	Science at the Shine Dome
Date:	7–9 May 2008
Venue:	The Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Acton, Canberra

More information:

Awardee talk summaries: www.science.org.au/sats2008/awards

Further information on awards and recipients: www.science.org.au/awards

Full Science at the Shine Dome program: www.science.org.au/sats2008