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Towards a sustainable hydrogen economy
RMIT University renewable energy researcher, Associate Professor John Andrews,
will outline a vision for a sustainable hydrogen economy in a presentation at the
EcoGen 2010 Conference in Sydney tomorrow (Wednesday, 8 September).
Associate Professor Andrews said the original concept of a hydrogen economy
was conceived in the early 1970s when concerns were first being raised about
shrinking oil, gas and coal supplies.
Now that we confront the threat of irreversible climate change, as well as a
looming deficit between oil demand and supply, this concept needs radical re-
envisioning as a truly sustainable hydrogen economy, he said.
Hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources has a critical role to play
globally and in Australia as a replacement transport fuel to petroleum, and as a
long-term energy storage on our main electricity grids to allow continuous supply
from intermittent renewables such as solar and wind.
Unfortunately there is a lack of understanding by many governments around the
world, including our Federal and State governments, of the role hydrogen can play
indeed most current energy policies simply leave hydrogen out.
Associate Professor Andrews will argue in his presentation that we should follow
the old maxim of horses for courses and look for complementary deployment of
battery and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, depending on the transport service to be
supplied.
Plug-in battery electric cars, for example, are highly suited for urban usage where
only short trips of up to about 100km are being made between recharging, he
said.
But where greater ranges are required in cars or trucks, hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles are essential.
The sustainable hydrogen energy economy he proposes involves decentralised
production of hydrogen from a wide variety of renewables (solar, wind, wave, tidal
and biomass) rather than large-scale centralised production and long-distance
transmission of hydrogen via pipelines, as proposed in the original hydrogen
economy concept.
Associate Professor John Andrews is the leader of the renewable-energy hydrogen
research group and Director of the Master of Engineering (Sustainable Energy)
program in RMITs School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering. He will speak on Re-envisioning a sustainable hydrogen energy
For interviews: Associate Professor John Andrews, 0409 400 858.
For media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, Gosia Kaszubska,
(03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
7 September, 2010