Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, announced plans to partner with Perth-based iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) on hydrogen technologies, aiming to support the development of a sustainable energy future, create new jobs and pave the way for low emissions export opportunities.
Namely, the partnership between CSIRO and Fortescue pursues the identification, development and commercialisation of technologies in order to support the construction of an Australian hydrogen industry and its future, global use.
Meanwhile, CSIRO will keep on investing in hydrogen R&D on its own, mainly via its Hydrogen Energy Systems Future Science Platform. Yet, the agency will collaborate with Fortescue to commercialise technologies that support new energy markets, including in the chemicals and transportation sectors.
The $20m collaboration is an investment in CSIRO’s metal membrane technology. Through metal membrane technology, ammonia is used as a carrier material for hydrogen storage and transport. The contract embodies commercialisation arrangements for the membrane technology with a 5-year investment in hydrogen R&D.
Today we’re seeing a ‘market pull’ from companies like Fortescue to reinvent themselves through deep science-driven innovation and follow the global market shift towards a low-emissions energy future, and in so doing create a whole new export market for our vast clean energy resources.
…Dr Larry Marshall, Chief Executive.
Both companies understand that a hydrogen industry needs a partnership approach, and that plenty of chances concerning collaboration will come to the surface as technologies and markets develop.
CSIRO’s National Hydrogen Roadmap provided a coordinated blueprint for growing Australia’s hydrogen industry and found that an economically-sustainable hydrogen industry could soon be a reality.