By Christine Chen
SYDNEY, July 4 (Reuters)
Climate change has been an ongoing issue in Australia. It dates back as far as the start of the 21st century. Weather conditions are changing as temperatures seem to rise. Bushfires, droughts, and even flooding have become commonplace. As a means to try and work on this issue, the country has set about some climate goals for the year. This aligns directly with global efforts to limit global warming. These goals include carbon sequestration, Net-Zero carbon emissions as well and renewable energy expansion.
Plans for drastic change
The country has incorporated some very innovative initiatives to drive the fight against climate change. These include:
- Renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar power. A good example here would be the large solar farm in Queensland. It supplies clean energy to approximately 1 million homes.
- EV or Electric Vehicle Adoptions, which work to reduce transport emissions. An incentive scheme promotes the purchase of these vehicles.
- CCS, or carbon capture and storage, aims at tackling industrial emissions.
- Green hydrogen initiatives.
Australia said on Friday it would invest A$432 million ($283.82 million) in a green hydrogen project led by Orica ORI.AX, the world’s largest explosives maker, is backing the emerging industry amid a wave of delays and cancelled projects across the country. The funding will support the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, which aims to decarbonize Orica’s nearby ammonia and explosives manufacturing operations and eventually supply the green fuel and green ammonia for export.
The Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub is situated on Kooragang Island and is the second recipient of the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart first funding round. The federal Hydrogen Headstart program is administered by ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency). It provides revenue support to large-scale renewable hydrogen projects once they are operational.
Taking a greener approach to the climate of Australia
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the funding for the project on the east coast helped secure Australia’s energy future, with the government seeing green hydrogen as key to its net-zero goals. Bowen said in a statement:
“By switching from gas to green hydrogen, the project will also significantly cut emissions from Orica’s ammonia production facility and help produce green ammonia for domestic use across mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.”
It is a boost for Australia’s struggling green hydrogen industry after a series of delays and exits cast doubt on its viability. On Sunday, plans to build a A$12.5 billion CQ-H2 plant in the state of Queensland collapsed after its lead developer, state-government-owned energy company Stanwell, ended its involvement. It was one of the country’s largest and most advanced projects.
Taking Orica through to the next level
Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, once a joint venture with Origin Energy ORG.AX faced a major setback last year when the power producer exited, citing cost concerns and headwinds in the green hydrogen market. Orica said the government support was “essential” to bridging the project’s “commercial gap”. The explosives maker added that it had received strong interest from potential project partners in the past few months and would work towards a final investment decision “in due course”. CEO Sanjeev Gandhi said:
“We hope to further contribute to our domestic and international customers’ decarbonization goals by offering low-carbon products, while supporting Orica’s next phase of decarbonization.”
The first phase of the hub is expected to produce up to 12 tons of green hydrogen per day using a 50-megawatt electrolyser powered by renewable energy. Australia’s trail towards decarbonization is reliant on an almost carbon-free power system, vastly improved energy efficiency across the economy, as well as a switch to low-carbon energy sources, specifically within buildings, industry, as well as in transport. The aim for net zero emissions has been set for 2050. This is encompassed within the country’s Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan.