ANGELA Gillham believes Australia has a good chance of becoming “a bunkering nation”, but only if it gets its renewable energy sources and green fuel production up to speed.
Speaking at the recent Asia Pacific Hydrogen Summit, the Maritime Industry Australia chief executive told DCN of “the clear advantage Australia has in terms of feedstock and renewable energy sources”.
There are the opportunities for the establishment of a sovereign future fuels industry in Australia, utilising the development and production of a low carbon liquid Fuels (LCLF) to provide greater bunkering options.
Ms Gillham says the potential is greatest on routes such as the Australia–East Asia Iron Ore Green Corridor (Port Hedland to China), where renewable energy sources and green fuel production could be located at or near the port.
“If Australia can produce these fuels at a competitive price, ships will choose to bunker out of Port Hedland,” she says.
Ms Gillham says international ships currently avoid bunkering in Australia due to the higher costs of conventional marine fuel.
MIAL has for some time talked about Australia’s potential comparative advantage in the production of low and zero carbon future shipping fuels, given our abundance of renewable energy and large shipping task.
As Ms Gillham told the APAC Hydrogen Summit audience, “we shouldn’t allow the delay in implementing the IMO Net-Zero Framework (NZF) to slow Australia down”.
While Australia requires global regulations to support the business case for shipping energy transition, she sees many examples in the maritime industry and ports, where “collaboration continues towards the energy transition”.
See earlier reports from DCN relating to the APAC Hydrogen Summit
-Harnessing hydrogen for maritime growth
-NSW Minister unveils renewable fuel strategy
-ICE and Australia’s clean energy export hub
Australian Hydrogen Council chief executive Fiona Simon spoke of the importance of collaboration.
“We all operate in a global market economy, where the systems that allocate capital reward competition, fragmentation and short-term advantage,” she said.
“The transition demands a shift to active coordination, choosing to act, accepting trade-offs and gaining efficiency through partnership.”
Ms Simon noted plans and projects across the Asia Pacific region, with the expectation that much of the hydrogen produced here in Australia would serve the broader region.
She also spoke of the Global Hydrogen Review which showed that despite the recalibration of industry plans, low emissions hydrogen production was expected to grow strongly by 2030.
“Our task is to build the parts of the future system that are reachable now: the first shared infrastructure, the first credible export corridors, the first governance mechanisms that can outlast political cycles,” Ms Simon said.
“If we can do that, we’ll turn the rhetoric of collaboration into reality – into a functioning market that delivers energy security, industrial competitiveness and genuine decarbonisation for our region.”