EnergySafe Magazine Winter 2019, issue 54 | Page 22

Gas news Winter 2019 energysafe issue 54 National Hydrogen Strategy By Enzo Alfonsetti, Manager, Type A Gas Appliance & Component Safety Over the past decade there has been much debate over Australia’s energy policy and its obligations to tackle climate change under the Kyoto Protocol and, more recently, the Paris Agreement. More recently, as was seen during the Federal Election, the dilemma of tackling climate change while ensuring affordable and reliable energy for consumers has remained a challenge for everyone. In August 2018, the Hydrogen Strategy Group, chaired by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, published a briefing paper for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council entitled ‘Hydrogen for Australia’s Future’. The briefing paper outlines that both Japan and South Korea are committed to a hydrogen economy, therefore a tremendous opportunity exists for Australia to become a major producer and exporter of hydrogen to the respective countries. This would allow Australia to leverage from the opportunities and develop its own hydrogen infrastructure for a number of applications including transport, power generation and gas appliances. A media release from the Chief Scientist published at the same time last year declared that: “Hydrogen could be Australia’s next multibillion dollar export opportunity. Hydrogen produces only water vapour and heat when burned. When produced from water using renewable electricity, or from coal or methane combined with carbon capture and storage, it’s a close to zero-emissions fuel. With appropriate safeguards, it’s just as safe as natural gas, and just as convenient for consumers. In Australia, we have all the necessary resources and expertise to make hydrogen at scale: wind, sun, coal, methane, carbon sequestration sites.” 22 Hydrogen gas is an abundant natural resource, but the challenge is extracting it from the environment. The focus on hydrogen and its various production methods has led to the introduction of some new terminology. In December 2018, the COAG Energy Council agreed to support a proposal by Australia’s Chief Scientist to develop a National Hydrogen Strategy in 2019, and establish a dedicated working group to lead activities that achieve this vision. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting the water molecule (H 2 O) through an electrolysis process driven by excess renewable energy from solar and wind power. Seen as the ‘holy grail’ of hydrogen production, there are no carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions involved in the process. At the moment, however, the electrolysers used for the electrolysis process are not commercially viable or able to produce hydrogen in significant quantities. The working group is considering six streams: » » Hydrogen Exports » » Hydrogen for Transport » » Hydrogen in the Gas Network » » Hydrogen for Industrial Users » » Hydrogen to Support Electricity Systems » » Cross-cutting Issues (e.g. Standards, R&D, etc.) Blue hydrogen is produced by cracking natural gas (methane) using a steam methane reforming process where CO 2 is also produced and captured using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Brown hydrogen is produced via coal gasification where CO 2 is also produced, but again is captured using CCS technology. The Victorian Government, in collaboration with a Japanese-led consortium, is progressing with a pilot project to test the economic feasibility of producing brown hydrogen in the Latrobe Valley and shipping the liquefied product to Japan. In March 2019, the working group published its Request for Information —Discussion Paper. The paper outlines how the working group will action the activities, and includes the published responses of the paper’s Request for Input. ESV is playing an active role in development of the National Hydrogen Strategy, providing feedback and advice to the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DEWLP) and the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. In particular, ESV is providing input for the Hydrogen in the Gas Network stream and its impact on safety and legislation. ESV also participated in a National Hydrogen Strategy workshop in April with the National Hydrogen Strategy Taskforce.