PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has called for public consultation on the development of a national hydrogen industry.
The COAG Energy Council in December of last year commissioned the Chief Scientist to develop a comprehensive and ambitious national strategy for the development of an Australian hydrogen industry.
Public feedback will inform the development of a draft strategy, to be publicly released in September.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan said on Friday that building a commercial hydrogen industry required a partnership between industry, the community and governments at all levels.
“We support new technologies like hydrogen, but there is more work to do on it, which is why we are already working with states through COAG on developing a hydrogen roadmap and are investing in further technology development”, Canavan said.
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor said that hydrogen could potentially offer more options for clean energy in the long term while maintaining security, reliability and affordability.
“Australia can be a world leader in hydrogen because of our abundant energy resources and proximity to emerging export markets in North Asia.”
The Australian government has thus far invested some A$100-million into hydrogen projects, including A$50-million for the world-first Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project in the La Trobe Valley, in Victoria. The first shipment to Japan is expected to be delivered in 2021.