IF GREEN hydrogen is a reliable source of clean energy, why is not being widely used in the maritime sector?
By way of a definition, green hydrogen is produced by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through a process called electrolysis.
Increasing the production and use of hydrogen in hard to abate sectors (including maritime), is the focus of several sessions at the Asia Pacific Hydrogen Summit in Sydney this week.
Maritime Industry Australia chief executive Angela Gillham is speaking in the session entitled Maritime and Ports: Harnessing Growth Opportunities for Hydrogen and Derivatives.
On the same platform will be MOL Shipping managing director Kazuki Kuwahara.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its net zero emissions by 2050 scenario, says green or low-emissions hydrogen will play a key role for heavy industry and long-distance transport, drawing on electrolysis powered by renewable electricity as the main route of production.
The IEA reports strong momentum behind hydrogen, with 60 governments (including the European Union) adopting hydrogen strategies.
Faster action is required, however, to create demand for low-emissions hydrogen and unlock investment that can accelerate production scale-up. According to the IEA, this will bring down the costs of technologies for producing and using low-emissions hydrogen.
Chief executive of the Australian Hydrogen Council (AHC), Fiona Simon, is also speaking at the summit.
She told DCN that hydrogen also will be needed to process biomass and produce methanol for shipping or sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).
She said the AHC welcomed the government’s efforts to develop hydrogen and low carbon liquid fuels as part of the Future Made in Australia policy.
“Our focus is ensuring hydrogen is available when it is needed for these markets to realise longer-term opportunities at scale,” Dr Simon told DCN, stressing Australia had natural advantages and skills to produce both hydrogen and low carbon liquid fuels.
She said AHC support for “first movers” (companies that are introducing new products or services to the market) was critical, as these were the same investors who would create scale in the longer-term.
Brisbane-based Lion Energy is one such business.
Lion Energy’s production and refuelling hub at the Port of Brisbane has a capacity exceeding 300 tonnes of green hydrogen a year.
Executive chair Tom Soulsby told DCN his company had “pivoted to green hydrogen since 2021, turning a vision into reality”.
He sees the green hydrogen produced at the port will be for industry, heavy mobility, gensets and logistics equipment.
He points to the hydrogen’s heavy mobility competitive advantage in such areas as:
He believes his green hydrogen project creates a blueprint for other H2 supply facilities across eastern Australia.
Developments are also occurring in Western Australia.
InterContinental Energy announced in May this year its P2(H2)Node™ system, a concept aimed at cutting costs and boosting efficiency, as well as facilitating the increased production of green hydrogen.
This patented technology is the backbone of Australia’s groundbreaking Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH). Designed to produce and export green hydrogen and ammonia, WGEH boasts a planned 70GW renewable energy capacity—positioning it as the world’s largest and most cost-efficient green hydrogen hub.
InterContinental Energy’s Australia head, Isaac Hinton, is speaking at the summit regarding giga-scale green hydrogen.
Victoria is also considering hydrogen with the Australian Sustainable Fuels Precinct in Gippsland. This involves diverting household and industrial waste from landfill and upcycling it into so-called Grade A+ hydrogen and other low carbon fuels.
Delivered by Zerogen together with Boson Energy and Xseed Solutions, the precinct represents a model that could be scaled nationally.
Xseed Solutions director Craig Allen said last month that “hydrogen and low carbon fuels from waste are both a climate solution and a pathway to create value, create regional jobs and build a new industry”.
He also believes Australia is uniquely positioned to be a world leader in this space.
In another development, Energys green production facility in Hastings recently gained approval.
This green hydrogen B2B industrial supply initiative is aimed at displacing grey hydrogen currently produced from natural gas.
“This project positions Victoria at the forefront of green hydrogen innovation,” said Energys chief executive Roger Knight.
“By displacing emissions-intensive grey hydrogen with a zero-carbon alternative, we are making a tangible contribution to decarbonising key sectors such as industrial gas, transport and stationary energy.”