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Hydrogen

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Hydrogen powered aircraft have not gained a lot of aiplay, but a recent purchase of 10 hydrogen powered aircraft by Air Logistics might make a few sit up and take notice.
From Airways Mag


AMSL Aero is an Australian Company that has developed the Vertila, and is powered by its inhouse developed hydrogen fuel cell.
I have some bias towards it, as the son of friends of ours works on the instrumentation and control systems for the company.
its worth keeping an eye on.
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
From Business Australian , it would seem that the reality has caught up with some of the hype.

Mick
Click to expand...
This space is going to be like dot.coms back in 1999, you are going to have heaps of companies pop up and a lot fail, but even though we had 100’s of dot.coms fail, we were still left with Google, Amazon and a bunch of others, so the internet itself wasn’t hype, but yeah Capitalism works through creative destruction, so we will see lots of failure, to get to the success.
 
Two to watch with interest.

New hydrogen production hub announced in Western Australia

The WA Government and Australian Government have announced a new joint hydrogen hub in the Pilbara region of the state.
www.drive.com.au

An area on the north coast of Western Australia has been chosen for a new 'hydrogen hub' – planned to produce energy which could eventually end up in a hydrogen-powered car.
Announced by WA Premier Roger Cook and the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, the $140 million project will both manufacture and export hydrogen from the Pilbara region.
The joint media conference took place in Karratha – approximately 1250 kilometres due north of Perth.

In July 2023, the Korean Electric Power Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Western Green Energy Hub in WA, with plans to produce 3.5 million tonnes of hydrogen from wind and solar power – produced in the Goldfields-Esperence region in the state's south – for export to South Korea.
 
It will be interesting, a lot of people say because of leakage and brittling it wont happen, well if anyone can China can, as has already been shown on several fronts.
Meanwhile we are still squabling about our electrical grid, we are just a sad bunch and the U.S is squabling about a wall.
The Chinese are in front on the wall building as well. Lol
 
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Thet are certainly a can do nation but what is the cost to the population.
A grain of rice a day and don't dissent.
 
This could be a game changer in terms of producing and transporting hydrogen at a cost effective price.
Well worth reading the whole story IMV.

Could a white powder deliver the holy grail of low cost green hydrogen exports?​


A new university spinout says powdered hydrogen could deliver the efficiencies needed to make the transport and export of green hydrogen competitive with fossil fuels.

Australia has high hopes of becoming a green energy export superpower, partly driven by the potential of green hydrogen. But some of the more ambitious proposals look doubtful because of the extremely high cost of transporting the gas.

The new idea from Curtin University in Perth is now housed in Kotai Energy, a startup that is pitching the powder as a potential export material for hydrogen and which this week secured a $5 million grant from ARENA to keep investigating the idea.

Could a white powder deliver the holy grail of low cost green hydrogen exports?

Shipping hydrogen as a powder could deliver a lot more energy, at a fraction of the cost, says Australian university spinoff.
reneweconomy.com.au
 
Arena has funded a number of projects to develop green hydrogen, green steel projects.
They were so convinced about the quality of the submissions they found more money to increase the original pot

FMG scored a big grant to develop low temperature green steel technology while Curtin Uni received $5m to develop/prove up the hydrogen as a powder project.

ARENA boosts funding and names winners for green hydrogen, iron and steel projects​


The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced a big lift in funding for research into renewable hydrogen and green iron and steel projects, and announced 21 winning projects that will conduct R&D on the technologies.

Specifically, ARENA will award $59.1 million in funding across 21 research projects to support both the research and development (R&D) and commercialisation of renewable hydrogen and low emissions iron and steel research.

Two funding rounds – Renewable Hydrogen and Iron & Steel – were initially provided $25 million each, but Arena says it has boosted the total funding to $59.1 million due to the number and quality of the applications.

It has made grants of between $1.3 million and $5 million to research teams at some of Australia’s leading universities, research organisations, start-ups, and companies, for projects which have a total value of $203 million.

“We’re backing Australian technological innovation that helps build our clean industries and underpins our ambitions of becoming a renewable energy superpower,” said Darren Miller, the CEO of Arena.

ARENA boosts funding and names winners for green hydrogen, iron and steel projects

Biggest grants go to Fortescue for a green iron project, and Curtin University to pursue a technology that could export hydrogen as a powder.
reneweconomy.com.au
 
one of the big pushes for green hydrogen was the opportunity to use it to make green steel.

But what if one could make green steel without hydrogen and 30-40% cheaper than curent6 process ? I found an Australian company that id offering this possibility. Check out the people behind this company. Some interesting connections to FMG.

Element Zero – The Green Metal Company

The future of mineral processing is here​

Element Zero has developed a novel approach to cost-effectively and efficiently convert metal ores such as iron ore, nickel ore and other future facing metals, to pure metal form with zero carbon emissions.

Electroreduction converts iron ore to high purity iron.​

Element Zero has developed a novel approach to cost-effectively and efficiently convert metal ores such as iron ore, nickel ore and other future facing metals, to pure metal form with zero carbon emissions.
  • Iron ore and other minerals dissolve in 15 –30 minutes with full dissolution within 60 minutes.

  • Electroreduction converts iron ore to high purity iron ~98%.

  • Superior efficiency with 30 – 40% less energy consumption compared to traditional processing pathways.

  • Intermittent energy (wind and solar) can be used in the process resulting in green iron.

  • The technology can process low grade (30% Fe) to high grade (72% Fe) iron ore.

  • Low operating temperature in the range of 250 – 300°C enables rapid ramp up and ramp down of the processing capacity.
No membrane is needed.

Our Mineral Processing Technology - Element Zero

Patented Technical Breakthrough Renewable Energy and Unique Chemistry Enables a Zero Carbon Producer of Iron and Future Facing Metals. Element Zero’s processes use renewable energy and unique chemistry to produce iron, nickel, silicon and other future facing metals, with 30-40% less energy per...
elementzero.green

Former Fortescue drivers take on green steel

Two former Fortescue heads have joined forces to create Element Zero, a green metal company looking to make iron production more sustainable.
www.australianmining.com.au
 
Given at the Royal Institute London; a few heads that know what thier talking about...
youtube the following;

Annual Lecture 2024 - Michael Liebreich. Global Energy Transition Trends and Hydrogen
 
.
pipedreams

Why hydrogen infrastructure ambition is a long way from reality

Proposed European pipelines could reach 28,000km by 2030 — but only one 30km scheme is currently under way
www.ft.com
 
Sean K said:
What's the solution here?

I want cheap, reliable, emissions free energy.

Hydrogen is tanking.

View attachment 180951
Click to expand...
IMO the only way that hydrogen will ever be able to be made profitably, is if it can be made as a by product of a process, not as the prime product of a process.
It is just too energy intensive to make from electrolysis, therefore it doesn't make sense, it will only become viable as a secondry product from a nuclear power station.
Be it as a way of keeping the units online, when they aren't required to supply base load, or by using the waste heat to assist in thermal decomposition.
But that is a long way in the future, if ever in Australia.
The real issues is, if other countries can make clean hydrogen cheaper and in greater quatities than us, it just becomes another nail in the coffin for us, because we are believing we have an advantage, that is yet be proved correct.
It was only 2.5 years ago we were going to have a battery manufacturing advantage, now that looks highly unlikely to eventuate.
We seem to be doing a lot of green can dreaming IMO.
 
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Producing hydrogen is not the problem, cost will eventually come down. The biggest and most dangerous problem is storage vessels, especially for the transport industry.

FMG's idea of a mining company producing hydrogen for their own use is a good one, once they get the price down. But for all the other dreamers talking about hydrogen cars and trucks, weel that is not going to happen for a generation because of the cost and danger.

Selecting the best materials for hydrogen storage is crucial to optimize performance, safety, and cost-effectiveness across different storage methods. For Compressed Gaseous Hydrogen Storage, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are commonly used due to their high strength, lightweight, and resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Liquid Hydrogen Storage relies on stainless steel or aluminum alloys with low thermal conductivity to construct cryogenic tanks that can withstand extreme temperatures. Metal Hydride Storage typically utilizes magnesium or titanium-based alloys, which offer high hydrogen storage capacity and reversibility, although the energy required for hydrogen release and the weight of the alloys are limiting factors. Chemical Hydrogen Storage leverages materials like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or zeolites that can adsorb and release hydrogen with minimal energy input, but their practical implementation is still under development. Given the unique advantages and challenges of each material, the best option ultimately depends on the specific application, desired storage capacity, and the necessary infrastructure.​

Comprehensive Review of Hydrogen Storage Methods: Best Practices and Technologies for the Future

Introduction: Hydrogen has emerged as a vital alternative to fossil fuels in the global quest for sustainable energy solutions. With its potential to decarbonize various industries, hydrogen is capturing the attention of business leaders, tech enthusiasts, and the general public alike. However...
www.hydrogennewsletter.com
 
Agree, with your sentiment, but hydrogen fueled vehicles are already on the road, so obviously whatever storage vessel they are using has passed testing.
Making hydrogen in the massive volume required, IS the real problem.

The amount of energy required to produce H2 is huge due to losses, therefore the equally massive amount of renewable energy, which will be losing half its output in the process losses will always be a cost problem.
Why make hydrogen when your only getting 50% return on generation, when you could just export it it as pure generation and get paid for all of it?

A quick read for those who are interested, this is where the rest of the World is heading, we are sitting around green can dreaming and platting our crap IMO.
Twiggy has finally twigged, it is a pipe dream to use solar panels to crack water and make H2 IMO.
H2 is definitely the fuel of the future, but to make it in the quantities required is the hard bit.

 
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sptrawler said:
Agree, with your sentiment, but hydrogen fueled vehicles are already on the road, so obviously whatever storage vessel they are using has passed testing.
Making hydrogen in the massive volume required, IS the real problem.
Click to expand...

How many?

The storage tank is a extremely expensive item, and by law must be opened and inspected for internal age-related faults. LPG tanks require an inspection and approval every 10 years, I don't know how often a hydrogen mobile tank needs that inspection or the cost.

In contrast, only two carmakers lease a new production hydrogen vehicle in Australia today – albeit for a limited number of commercial fleet buyers only: the second-generation Toyota Mirai sedan and the Hyundai Nexo SUV.​

Hydrogen or battery-electric cars: Which is right for Australia?

Why are battery EVs starting to take off, while hydrogen continues to be stuck at ground level?
www.whichcar.com.au
 
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