Toward a Zero-Carbon Society

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has partnered with energy company Jemena to begin a five-year trial aimed at bringing hydrogen power to the domestic grid. The first step in the trial is a $15 million electrolysis plant to produce hydrogen with electricity that is sourced from renewables, including solar and wind power. Australia has reliable supplies of both, but using it to generate hydrogen also enables it to be stored in pipelines to be drawn upon when needed (like batteries only cheaper).

The next step will be to mix small amounts of hydrogen with natural gas for domestic use in western Sydney. Since hydrogen can replace most fossil fuels for heating and cooking, a 10 percent hydrogen mix will be unnoticeable to customers but have a big potential impact on carbon emissions. As hydrogen output continues to grow, scientists have also been looking at cost-effective ways to store and transport it to other countries. The recent development of a membrane that is capable of extracting high-purity hydrogen from ammonia was the key. By storing hydrogen as ammonia, it can be shipped and stored easily, then extracted later to fuel vehicles.

In the longer term, the technology being developed could unlock a $1.7 billion opportunity to export hydrogen to countries like Japan and South Korea where policies have been put into place to encourage low-carbon energies. In Japan alone, the goal is to have 40,000 hydrogen cars on the road by 2020.