Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told ABC’s 7.30 Report on Monday night that “I never quite bought all the hype on green hydrogen”, despite wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on it.
Video by Osher Feldman
Bowen’s claim is hilarious given that the Albanese government’s $23 billion Future Made in Australia (FMIA) scheme has set aside up to $8 billion for green hydrogen projects:
According to the Australian Financial Review, “more than 130 projects linked to hydrogen have received federal taxpayer money going back to 2017, according to the government’s grants register. While many pre-date this government, easily the largest came after the 2023 budget frenzy”.
The Australian also reported last year that 99% of the announced hydrogen capacity had not moved beyond the concept stage.
Below are some choice quotes from Bowen promoting green hydrogen, compiled by opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan:
- 13 April 2023: Today’s release of the annual State of Hydrogen report reinforces that Australia has the foundations to become a global leader in green hydrogen.
- 23 May 2023: Now some people might think, oh, you know, is green hydrogen real, is it going to happen? Well, it’s already being manufactured right there in Gladstone …
- 18 December 2023: And if we’re going to play our role in decarbonising that is one of the key and essential roles that we can play, developing an Australian green hydrogen industry and exporting it.
- 18 January 2024: Firstly, of course, our Government wants Australia to be a hydrogen superpower, a green hydrogen superpower.
- 1 May 2024: Second, while technologies like green hydrogen will be vital – and I am very optimistic about Australia’s role in the global hydrogen supply chain – there are not yet substitutes for gas in many industrial settings.
- 20 March 2025: Hydrogen – green hydrogen, is really the only game in town when it comes to ultimately supporting the Australian and international industries as they move in the longer term to get off gas. And Australia is one of the few places in the world which can be home to a serious green hydrogen industry.
- 4 July 2025: It shows that green hydrogen does have a future in Australia. Australia is one of few countries in the world that has the capacity to develop a green hydrogen industry big enough for export.
If the above is not hype for green hydrogen, I don’t know what is.
Despite the repeated failures, Bowen last year promised to waste $432 million of taxpayers’ funds to revive the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, which he claimed would create “long-term, high-quality jobs for the region, while decarbonising industries that are vital to our economy”.
He also pledged $814 million in support for a major hydrogen and green ammonia export project in the Midwest of Western Australia.
The reality is that green hydrogen is uneconomic. It is expensive to produce, transport, store, distribute, and use.
Green hydrogen is 2–3 times more expensive than blue hydrogen and natural gas today.
This disparity is why green hydrogen projects have stalled in Australia and worldwide.
Hydrogen is completely useless as a fuel source for industry or vehicles, since the electrolysers used to convert water into hydrogen operate at only 60–70% efficiency, meaning much of the input energy is lost.
Then when hydrogen is later used (e.g., in fuel cells), further losses occur, making the full cycle far less efficient than direct electrification.
In the case of ammonia production, the cost is simply too high.
As explained by Energy Quest:
“It takes around 45 kilowatt hours to produce one kilogram of green hydrogen, but that one kilogram can only be used to generate 30kWh of electricity, and production of green ammonia involves a further 13-25 per cent energy loss”.
Then there is the issue of how much electricity would be required to meet the government’s own green hydrogen target.
In September 2024, the Albanese government announced that its National Hydrogen Strategy sets a target of producing 15 million tonnes of renewable (green) hydrogen per year by 2050. Achieving this would require an enormous amount of electricity—roughly 750–900 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, equivalent to more than twice Australia’s current total electricity generation, all from renewables.
I highly recommend the interview with former CSIRO Divisional Chief (minerals and energy) Tom Biegler on the Baseload Podcast. Biegler dispels the myth that green hydrogen is a viable technology for Australia.
The federal government should end green hydrogen subsidies immediately.
