Griffith will lend its expertise to the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre, which was announced recentlyby the Federal Government.

The Blue Economy CRC will benefit from $259 million in cash and kind from Australian partners and six other countries and $70 million from the Federal Government, announced by the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology the Hon Karen Andrews.

The CRC will besupported by core partners Griffith University, The University of Queensland and CSIRO, bringingtogether expertise in the seafood, marine renewable energy and offshore marine engineering sectors to deliver innovative solutions that will transform the way we use our oceans.

The University of Tasmania’s Launceston campus will leadthe centre, which aims to benefit Australian energy, seafood and marine environment industries by uniting national and international expertise in aquaculture, marine renewable energy and marine engineering as part of a collaborative effort between industry, researchers and the community.

The expected benefits equate to $4.44 billion of impact by all five research programs — almost a 4:1 benefit ratio. In practical terms, by 2035 this will translate into:

  • A $400M p.a. expansion in the marine and seafood production industry through moving offshore
  • Creation of an estimated 3500-4000 jobs per annum from Year 15 due to increased scale and investment

The CRCwill achieve its goals through five research programs:

  • Program 1: Offshore Engineering and Technology
  • Program 2: Seafood and Marine
  • Program 3: Offshore Renewable Energy Systems
  • Program 4: Environment and Ecosystems
  • Program 5: Sustainable Offshore Developments

Griffith brings a diversity of research expertise across all themes including maritime law and governance, evaluation, mitigation and monitoring of anthropogenic impacts on marine systems, invertebrate aquaculture, and artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in monitoring and maintenance, energy system modelling, hydrogen and micro-grid technologies, liability and insurance, carbon sequestration and supply chain modelling and optimisation.

Griffith researchers involvedwith the Blue Economy CRC include:

Deputy Leaders

Professor Chris Frid, Environmental Futures Research Institute

Professor Evan Gray, Queensland Micro Nanotechnology Centre

Associate Professor Ki-Hoon Lee, Griffith Business School

Other Cis

Professor Rod Connolly, Australian Rivers Institute

Professor Charles Sampford, Law Futures Centre

Professor Roger Tomlinson, Griffith Centre for Coastal Management