In 2020, then chief scientist Alan Finkel called hydrogen “the hero”. It would be the new clean fuel for hard-to-decarbonise heavy industries such as steel, cement and freight transport. Australia would be a triple winner: new hydrogen production using its abundant sun and wind could also replace its huge coal and gas exports.

The Albanese Labor government has promised nearly $9 billion in direct subsidies and production tax credits, while one of the country’s hardest-driving entrepreneurs, Andrew Forrest, had earlier declared a target of 15 million tonnes of hydrogen to be produced by 2030 to make Fortescue a go-to global green energy giant.