Australia and the Hydrogen Economy

Most of the more serious pilot work relevant to Australia appears to be targeting industrial usage as a replacement for high carbon industries.

In respect of Australia becoming a major green Hydrogen energy exporter, it seems these days in government everything is commercial in confidence. It’s conceivable the first public evidence of any progress may be long after all the deals have been done.

And there are those seeking green “street cred” through vehicle trials.

Note: :slightly_smiling_face:

I haven’t seen an indicative price for the hydrogen supply for the Qld Q-Fleet trial. One source referenced the EU retail filling station price of approx AU$16/kg. With a solar and green energy mix the Bulwar Island trial plant has potential to deliver hydrogen at a lower cost.

I think the relevant Aussie comparison point might be an ICE petrol vehicle (7l/100km @$1.40/l) vs a Toyota Mirai or Hyundai Nexo (1kg H2/100km @$10.00/kg retail at the fueling station). The cost/efficiency relative to a BEV I think we covered in the Electric and alternate vehicle fuels topic.

Yes, there’s a big gap between the price of readily available hydrogen gas for small scale scientific and industrial use, vs the costs quoted for the US or by the CSIRO Hydrogen Roadmap. Note the CSIRO costs are production only, excluding transport, distribution and retail margins.

While bottled hydrogen is available these are for low volumes and with high overheads in distribution - Typically $25-$40/kg depending on purity and bottle size, plus bottle rental.

Caution:
As per the often shown Hindenburg film clip hydrogen gas has risks associated with it’s safe use. In Australia it’s use outside of specific laboratory and industrial users has been rare. There has only been a handful of recent hydrogen vehicle trials.

Regulation (Safety and Opportunity):
This is yet to catch up, although now an agenda item for government. COAG is not noted for delivering quickly. More so when there are complex issues.

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