Innovatia

locations and people to support it. It’s win-win for energy transition and regional development.

Australia: A Hydrogen Leader Though the path ahead is littered with obstacles, Australia has an opportunity to alchemise hydrogen’s flexibility as an energy vector into cleaner living and export gold. By Kate Vidgen A s the world tackles the challenge of decarbonisation, Australia is uniquely placed to become a global clean-en- a source of heat and a chemical feedstock. Crucially, hydrogen technologies, including electrolysers and stationary fuel cell appli- cations, can also potentially contribute to grid stability by participating in demand re- sponse and ancillary services markets.

Australia and the world have committed to replacing fossil fuels but to effect this seismic change we will need billions of tonnes of bio- energy, biofuels, and renewable energy. Fortu- nately, we have the feedstock supplies and the technology available as well as the incentive. As with most large complex problems facing humanity, formulating a successful plan of ac- tion that performs at scale requires many so- cial, political, industrial, and commercial forc- es to come together as a cohesive whole. This is a challenge for all of us. Angelo Dabala is the CEO of Renewable.bio, a bioenergy and carbon sequestration company. “The move to harness Australia’s bioenergy production potential is a win- win for the energy transition process and for regional development”

ergy leader. With an abundance of natural resources such as wind and sunshine, we al- ready have a mature investment market for core forms of renewable energy. Then there are technologies, such as green hydrogen, which are, by international stand- ards, emerging. With its heritage in mining, proximity to off-takers in South Korea and Japan, and aforementioned resource abun- dance, Australia is perhaps uniquely placed to support domestic and export hydrogen markets. The Australian Government has recognised this opportunity, with a nation- al strategy that envisages becoming a top three exporter to Asian markets. Hydrogen’s flexibility as an energy vector is key. It can be a source of transport fuel, not only for point-to-point vehicles such as heavy haulage, rail and bus fleets but also, long-term, for hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and shipping. Delivered through existing gas networks, it can also be used as

The fact that hydrogen is the most abun- dant element on Earth, used in many differ- ent industrial processes, raises the question of why the green-hydrogen industry remains nascent. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting hydrogen from water using a renewable en- ergy-powered electrolyser – a potentially ze- ro-emissions process. Though electrolysers “As the world grapples with the challenge of producing sufficient energy to support our growing population, hydrogen offers an abundant, natural solution.”

organic refuse can form a bioeconomy which enables a continuous cycle of organic growth, carbon capture, and product reuse. A simple practical example is biofuels from crop residues such as straw. Straw is a byprod- uct of cereal production from crops such as wheat, barley, and oats, and in Australia there are millions of tons of straw available every year. Using commercially available technology and processes, straw can be turned into biofu- els, which can be used to produce energy and power the machines used in cereal production. Hence, a circular bioeconomy. One specific impact of bioenergy that is par- ticularly important for Australia is jobs creation for regional communities. Bioenergy must be made near feedstock, and that requires regional

INNOVATIA

302

INNOVATIA

| Transformations

303