IMPACT | Ep 2 | Wine waste for clean energy future

It’s one of the nation’s biggest food waste challenges, but CQUniversity researcher Dr Heena Panchasara hopes leftovers from Australian wine production can help power a cleaner future.   With 1.3 billion litres of wine produced in Australia every year, the industry also creates 350 kilotonnes of leftover skins, stems and seeds, known as grape marc or pomace. Mechanical Engineering academic Dr Panchasara tells CQUniversity psychology and wine researcher Dr Alex Russell about big plans for diverting it from landfill, and into a range of clean energy solutions. The project could see wineries generating their own power and biodiesel, and wine enthusiasts across Australia get passionate about clean energy generation as well.  This is the second episode for CQUniversity’s newest podcast series: IMPACT, a podcast that explores ground-breaking research projects and their real-world impacts.