Things is getting fair dinkum now as the Libs swing behind the Hydrogen Revolution and open up a gigantic new export market.
How much subsidy will ScoMo throw at it ? Will he just transfer some of the subsidy being wasted on useless renewables across to the much more viable hydrogen ?
Australia wisely ignored the useless all electric toy cars.Australia's top scientist calls for hydrogen revolution to replace fossil fuelsBy Nicole Hasham October 10, 2018 — 12.01am
The federal government’s top scientist Alan Finkel says Australia could slash global carbon emissions and create a multi-billion dollar export industry by developing hydrogen as an everyday energy source to replace fossil fuels used in vehicles, homes and industry.A major climate report on Monday identified hydrogen, which can be produced with virtually no emissions, as among fuel options that must be developed if the planet is stay below the critical 1.5 degrees warming threshold and avoid the worst climate change disasters.
The report by the UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, called for a coal phase-out by 2050 and predicted a substantial decline in the use of natural gas – two export industries upon which Australia is heavily reliant.
Chief scientist Alan Finkel says a massive hydrogen export industry could help the global transition away from fossil fuels.CREDIT:PHIL NOBLE
The report distilled 6000 scientific references and was authored by 91 scientists across 40 countries.
Environment Minister Melissa Price on Tuesday rejected the key findings of the report, despite not having read the full report, and said the call to eliminate coal-generated electricity was a "long bow".
Clean hydrogen is produced from water using renewable energy, or coal or methane using technology that captures and stores carbon.
Australia’s abundance of wind, sun and fossil fuels means it is well placed to produce hydrogen at scale, however carbon-capture has been constrained by large capital costs and its viability at large scale is unproven.
Dr Finkel recently returned from Japan where he explored the hydrogen export potential for Australia.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN
In an exclusive opinion piece for Fairfax Media on Wednesday, Dr Finkel outlined a recent fact-finding trip to Japan which he said has “declared its intention to be the world’s first nation to use hydrogen as a mainstream fuel”. Japan presently imports 94 per cent of its energy as fossil fuels.
Japan, South Korea and other nations plan to increase the use of hydrogen, creating big export opportunities for Australia. However Brunei, Norway and Saudi Arabia are all racing to claim a share of the market.
In a separate interview, Dr Finkel told Fairfax Media that developing a clean hydrogen export business would “contribute very significantly to the global endeavour” to lower emissions.
“We would be helping Japan, Korea and other countries make their contribution ... from a global point of view it’s very significant,” he said.
Hydrogen would be used as an alternative to fossil fuels in cars, trucks, trains and ships, for electricity storage and generation as well as home and industrial uses, he said.
A massive hydrogen export business would provide low-cost clean fuel to Australian consumers. Hydrogen can be added to existing natural gas supplies and Energy Networks Australia says over time, gas networks could deliver 100 per cent hydrogen to replace natural gas.
The Minerals Council of Australia also supports development of the industry.
While questions remain over the viability of carbon-capture, Dr Finkel was “relatively optimistic that it could be done at massive scale and safely and at a good price point”.
Environment Minister Melissa Price has rejected the findings of 91 eminent scientists that coal should be phased out by 2050.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN
Cost-effective carbon capture and storage might avoid the need to completely phase out coal, he said.
Over the next 30 years, creating a hydrogen export industry to match the existing LNG industry would require several hundred gigawatts of extra dedicated electricity, meaning new solar and wind projects would be needed, Dr Finkel said.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has explored ways to develop the industry and Dr Finkel is developing a proposal for a national hydrogen strategy to be presented to the Council of Australian Governments in December.
Ms Price has rejected at least four interview requests from Fairfax Media since taking on the environment portfolio. In an interview with ABC radio on Tuesday, Ms Price said the IPCC report “outlines possible pathways, this is not something that’s prescriptive”.
“I haven’t read the whole report ... but certainly we need to have a look at it,” she said.
“To say [coal has] got to be phased out by 2050 is drawing a very long bow, but we are a responsible government, we look at these things.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-top-scientist-calls-for-hydr...
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