Barry Anderson introduced Professor Michael Dureau AM, FTSE, HonRIEA Aust, IChemE, FAIE, FAICD, CPEng, CSci. Michael has a proven record in the power and water industries and is a leader in new energy technology development, advanced engineering and studies of key environmental issues facing Australia. He is Deputy Chairman of the Warren Centre. Michael is also a Justice of the Peace and can be found on duty from time to time at Northbridge Library.
Michael spoke of hydrogen as a future fuel and started by telling us that Australia’s net omission is low at 1% in terms of global omission (33% is China) and that we as a country absorb several times more carbon than the amount we emit. He said we were the lucky country in the field of renewable energy with huge amounts of sun, wind, coal, gas, large amounts of uranium, as well as the Snowy scheme and Tassie hydro.
Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy - (https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy.pdf) - has a vision for the future, one of which is for the Government to export large amounts of hydrogen and grow to reduce carbon emissions.
Australia aims to become a “major player” in global hydrogen production and trade by 2030 and has produced a thorough policy roadmap in support of this goal. The government is helping to fund a variety of demonstration projects and “hydrogen hubs” that it hopes will provide its potential in emerging technology.
Michael advised clean hydrogen is set to become a reality in the future. Our present usage is black coal 46%, brown coal 17%, gas 4%, hydrogen 8%, solar 9% and wind 15%. He said we cannot change quickly as we need reliable energy. In the long-term Australia will rely on green hydrogen but it is expensive to produce at present. One kilo of hydrogen in a hydrogen car will enable that car to travel 100km with no greenhouse gas emission.
Hydrogen is a simple but tricky element as it can be explosive if combined with oxygen and a spark, so fuel tanks need to be super strong. Hydrogen requires a lot of water to produce.
In conclusion, Michael said that Australia can become a renewable energy superpower, but that the road is long and full of potholes!
Barry Anderson thanked Michael for his interesting and very informative talk.
Ros Virtue
