CSIRO has launched a new hydrogen industry mission with a target of driving down the cost of production to under $2 a kilogram which could position Australia as the leading exporter of hydrogen fuel by 2030.

Hydrogen, when mixed with oxygen, can be used as an emissions-free fuel source to generate electricity, power or heat but it is expensive to produce.

Over the next five years, more than 100 projects worth $68 million have been planned by CSIRO partners including: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Fortescue Metals Group, Swinburne University, the Victorian Government, the Future Fuels CRC, National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), and the Australian Hydrogen Council, along with collaborators Toyota and Hyundai.

CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall said the unique mission-based partnership was the key to creating a new industry for the future energy needs of Australia and the world.

“Australia can become a renewable energy leader through the production, use and export of hydrogen, but it will only become a reality if we breakthrough the $2/kg barrier. That needs Australia’s world class science working with CSIRO’s commercialisation expertise turning breakthrough science into real-world solutions,” Marshall said.  

“Taking a Team Australia approach is essential to creating the 8,000 jobs and $11 billion a year in GDP that hydrogen can contribute to Australia’s economy as we build back better from the impacts of COVID-19.”

CEO of the Australian Hydrogen Council Dr Fiona Simon said the Mission came at a critical time for the emerging Australian hydrogen industry.

“We need a coordinated series of investments in industrial-scale research and demonstration activities, along with the supporting research and infrastructure that can bring the technologies that are available and emerging to the industry that needs to deploy them,” Dr Simon said.

“Focused efforts like the Hydrogen Industry Mission will help realise these goals, and the Hydrogen Council is delighted to be part of it.”