Spark | The Australian Museum's New Climate Change Exhibition

Spark Is A Showcase Of Climate Change Solutions

Spark aims to showcase the solutions to the greatest issue of our time: climate change. An incredibly complex issue requires a complex array of solutions — but Australia’s brightest minds are proving that they’re up for the challenge!

Australia Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay AO said that the exhibition will provide an insight into the valuable work being done in Australia to solve the ever-evolving climate crisis.

“As trusted institutions, museums have a duty to communicate climate change to the public. Following the Australian Museums’ carbon neutral certification, Spark allows us to share the innovative Australian-made inventions looking to reduce pollution, create affordable and clean energy and promote prosperity while protecting the planet,” McKay said.

Exhibition Highlights | Solar Power & Wind Power

Spark showcases amazing advancements in the renewable energy sector. 

Did you know that Australia has the highest uptake of roof-top solar power in the world? 1 in 4 homes in Australia have solar panels on their roof! By attending Spark, you’ll discover how Australian inventors are helping to make solar power even more accessible and sustainable through transparent and flexible solar-collecting plastics and solar roof tiles.

Did you know that wind power is Australia’s leading source of renewable energy? Spark showcases sustainable advancements in onshore, offshore and micro wind turbines, which are helping to provide more energy security in regional and remote areas.

Exhibition Highlights | Hydrogen Power & Electric Vehicles

Hydrogen power has amazing potential as a clean energy source. At Spark, you’ll be able to check out a model unit of LAVO — the world’s first domestic hydrogen battery system. A group of engineers, including the University of New South Wales (UNSW), have optimised the battery so that it uses a single bucket of water to power your house for an entire day!

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are booming in popularity all over the world. The transport sector is the second-largest source (18 per cent) of emissions in Australia. That’s why we need to decarbonise the transport sector by switching from polluting petrol/diesel vehicles to EVs powered by renewable energy! Spark will showcase a Dennis Savic Alpha motorbike — Australia’s first home-grown electric motorbike!

Exhibition Highlights | Microalgae & Seaweed Farms

You probably don’t associate microalgae or seaweed with climate change solutions, but both have extraordinary carbon capture abilities!

Microalgae has so many uses — it can create different types of plastics and fuels, and it absorbs excess carbon from the atmosphere. Microalgae bioreactors are being developed to capture as much carbon as a hectare of forest! A glowing green microalgae bioreactor tank from the Climate Change Cluster (C3) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is on display at Spark. Seaweed has the power to rapidly absorb carbon from the atmosphere at a much faster rate than plants on land. Plus, did you know that seaweed is being fed to cows? The seaweed supplement basically eliminates all methane (a harmful greenhouse gas) from a cow’s digestive process.

Spark Will Educate & Inspire Visitors

There are lots of other exhibition features to see at Spark — like cultural burning, supporting biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, and building smarter. These solutions aren’t just about combatting climate change — they’re about improving the way we treat our planet, the way we utilise resources, and the way that we build!

The Australian Museum’s Manager of Climate Change Projects, and curator of Spark, Dr. Jenny Newell, said that Spark showcases the amazing ways that Australians are working together to advance climate change solutions. 

“We hope the exhibition inspires visitors – on-site and online – to come on board with advancing these vital ways of caring for this land and each other,” Newell said.