Deanna Ferraro

Case study: Deanna Ferraro
International Business Cadet 2010

Clean energy a natural export career

Not everyone can say their first job included a private tour of the world's largest carbon capture and storage facility by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, but that's how Deanna Ferraro kick-started her career.

Deanna was placed in Los Angeles with Brisbane-based Carbon Energy as part of Trade and Investment Queensland's International Business Cadet program in 2010.

Through the program, she was able to apply her Bachelor of Natural Resource Economics by working with a Queensland-based company making great strides in the introduction of clean energy technology worldwide.

"It was a great opportunity for me to combine my interest in clean energy and international business, while getting hands-on experience," Deanna said.

"Carbon Energy is the developer of Australia's first commercial syngas-fuelled power station, and is focused on producing cleaner energy and chemical feedstock from Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).

"My brief was to assess the market potential in the USA for commercialising stranded coal assets and carbon dioxide by-product from Carbon Energy's UCG technology.

"I had the great privilege of meeting Dr Malcolm Wilson who won the Nobel Peace Prize as a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and who was also kind enough to show me some of the cutting-edge carbon capture technologies being developed.

"The market research I gathered while in the USA contributed to Carbon Energy's due diligence investigations and paved the way for their later acquisition of a US company to develop energy projects there.

"The valuable relationships formed with key contacts in-market continue to be an important part of the success of Carbon Energy's USA projects.

"Since completing my cadetship, I've been working for Carbon Energy as a Commercial Analyst and continue to identify new market opportunities for the company.

"The cadetship helped my career significantly, as the market-specific knowledge and experience I gained equipped me with a niche skills set."

Deanna Ferraro
International Business Cadet 2010