Recently, the South Australian Business Chamber hosted an event at the National Wine Centre called ‘Hydrogen, Future Technology Today’. An initiative brought to me by our Policy and Advocacy team, designed to test the waters, so to speak, on the business community’s readiness to embrace future technologies such as hydrogen as an alternative to coal fired power.
I should not have been surprised that the event sold out a 130-person luncheon within one week of release, resulting in a room full of future thinking, and sustainably minded business owners covering a range of different industries, ready to hear about the possibilities of Hydrogen power.
In this third edition of Sustainable Business, I highlight some of the developments in Hydrogen technology and demonstrate some practical solutions that businesses are already using and can use now.
Before we get started, for those reading about Hydrogen technology for the first time (although I doubt that), Hydrogen Energy is delivered from hydrogen, the most abundant chemical in the universe. It can be produced as a gas or liquid and is importantly clean, sustainable, in abundance, non-toxic and far more efficient than other forms of energy… a suite of qualities not found in the primary energies used today.
First and foremost, it is important to recognise the heavy hitters in this area. Pioneers’ starting pilot projects that could one day scale to mass distribution of hydrogen energy.
The Australian Gas Infrastructure Group in 2018 received funding from the South Australian Government of $4.9 million, contributing to the development of Hydrogen Park in the Tonsley Innovation District. Fast forward to Q2, 2021 and the first supply of renewable hydrogen blended gas to a trial catchment of homes via existing networks has commenced.
Blended gas refers to a 5 per cent blend of hydrogen and 95 per cent natural gas. Further projects by ‘AGIG’ are considering up to 10 per cent hydrogen blend, before 100 per cent conversion at other sites, such as the Australian Hydrogen Centre and Hydrogen Park in Gladstone.
As of early 2021, BOC, a subsidiary of Linde plc signed on an agreement with AGIG to take on excess green renewable hydrogen from the Tonsley Innovation District, removing their need to transport the energy from their facility in Victoria, saving 117,000km in annual driving and 122,000kgs of carbon emissions per year.
BOC retail hydrogen cylinders that burn clean, carbon-free and soot-free flames, used in heat transfer applications, in addition to argon in plasma welding and as an alternative power source when used with a fuel cell to generate electricity.
As demonstrated by AGIG and BOC, these technologies of the future, are not for the future… they are technologies of today. As seen at the South Australian Business Chamber Hydrogen Luncheon, demand will be driven for commercial use of Hydrogen by business leaders seeking alternatives out of a determination to operate clean and efficient businesses, as part of their ESG policies which I referred to in our first article on this topic back in March.
The South Australian Government, through Renewables SA in 2019 released our states Hydrogen Action Plan, suggesting that with our wind, sun, land, infrastructure, and skills we have everything we need to be a world-class renewable hydrogen supplier.
On a National level, commercialisation as suggested by the Council of Australian Governments of Hydrogen exports forecasts that by 2030, could contribute $1.7 billion and 2,800 jobs to the economy, with South Australia working towards positioning itself to attract a substantial share of that economic activity should it come about.
A report released through Renewables SA found that international investors already regard South Australia as an attractive clean energy investment destination due to it’s more than $7 billion in clean energy generation and storage. Optimum opportunities for export have been highlighted as China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, all economies that are ambitious about clean energy markets.
The South Australian Business Chamber supports all initiatives that increase demand for clean energy alternatives. The future of Hydrogen energy provides a multitude of opportunities, boasting characteristics that are clean, flexible, storable and safe, producing no carbon emissions at all.
From an end user point of view, we hope to see an increase in powered vehicles and sustainably generated energy supplies, and from a major economic standpoint, the opportunities for jobs and industries are outstanding and will only benefit Australia in the long run.
Australia’s abundance of natural resources to make clean hydrogen put us at the forefront of opportunities, but most importantly to assist in reaching an end goal of carbon neutrality as soon as feasibly possible.
