In 2019, the Australian government announced the National Hydrogen Strategy, setting a path and committing substantial funding to accelerate the commercialisation of hydrogen energy and build a strong domestic hydrogen sector.
And in March 2020, four mining giants – BHP, Fortescue, Anglo American and Hatch – formed the Green Hydrogen Consortium, pledging to work together to accelerate renewable energy-powered hydrogen production and its application to the resources sector and other heavy industries.
“There are a whole range of opportunities for hydrogen in the mining sector,” says Dr Daniel Roberts, who is the Director of the CSIRO Hydrogen Energy Future Science Platform.
“There’s a strong drive to decarbonise mining operations. Hydrogen can be used to store renewable energy to generate electricity, it can power equipment and trucks and cars, and it can even be used in certain mining processes as a reductant,” Dr Roberts says.
