An economically-sustainable hydrogen industry could soon be on the cards according to a blueprint released by Australia’s science agency CSIRO, which found that cost competitiveness is firmly on the horizon.
The National Hydrogen Roadmap describes a path to develop the action and investment plans required to realise the full benefits of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is a clean-burning fuel with a range of uses, from powering vehicles, to storing energy.
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Hydrogen can service multiple markets and if produced using low-emissions energy sources, will enable deep decarbonisation across the energy and industrial sectors.
The Roadmap’s findings include:
- Hydrogen technologies are reaching maturity, with the narrative now shifting from R&D to market activation;
- Hydrogen presents a new export opportunity for Australia and could also play a significant role in enabling the further uptake of renewable energy;
- While the benefits are clear, current barriers to market activation include a lack of supporting infrastructure such as hydrogen refuelling stations for transport, and the cost of hydrogen supply for some applications;
- An appropriate policy framework could create a ‘market pull’ for hydrogen, with investment in infrastructure then likely to follow;
- In or around 2025, clean hydrogen could be cost-competitive with existing industrial feedstocks such as natural gas, and energy carriers such as batteries in many applications.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said that the Roadmap shows that ‘Australia has a unique and urgent opportunity to turn significant natural resources, including coal, gas, and renewables like solar and wind energy, into a low-emissions energy product and ship it around the world – in some cases literally exporting Aussie sunshine.’
Currently, much of the required technology is at a mature stage and there is considerable scope for further R&D to further improve process efficiencies and develop new applications, CSIRO Hydrogen Future Science Platform Director Dr Patrick Hartley noted.
The National Hydrogen Roadmap was sponsored by 21 industry and government bodies.
You can see more information in the PDF herebelow
