Bill Shorten’s $1b plan for hydrogen a win for Queensland

Bill Shorten’s plan to quarantine $1 billion bound for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for hydrogen proposals has great potential.

HYDROGEN and Queensland have something of a chequered relationship with each other.

Ever since Joh Bjelke-Petersen amused the nation with his passion for water-powered cars, hydrogen has been unceremoniously ridiculed as an energy source. The images from the early-1980s of Sir Joh pouring water into the petrol tank of an experimental vehicle that could supposedly turn water into hydrogen have also been used countless times to mock both Queensland and its former premier.

State launches discussion paper on hydrogen

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However, in recent years, the game has changed. There are numerous examples where hydrogen is now being used in heavy industries and agriculture.

The first batch of Hyundai’s hydrogen-fuelled Nexo is due to arrive in Australia this year, although they are a long way from common usage given there’s nowhere to fill them up.

Overwhelmingly, what has prompted researchers to reconsider hydrogen as an energy source has been the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in 2011. This disaster has, understandably, caused public support for nuclear energy to nosedive and forced the Japanese government to invest $16 billion into hydrogen research.

With limited land mass and even fewer natural reserves, Japan needs to find ways to import the low-emission power needed in the near future and hydrogen is one of these fuel sources.

That’s why Labor leader Bill Shorten’s announcement today has great potential. He is promising to quarantine $1 billion bound for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – the $10 billion federal body established to invest in renewable projects – for hydrogen proposals.

There’s an argument that hydrogen would have attracted the CEFC’s attention anyway. For example, the CEFC announced in 2015 that it was looking to invest in a network of accessible refuelling stations for fuel cell powered electric vehicles. However, it is unclear how far this has progressed.

Mr Shorten’s proposal would ensure that hydrogen attracts the investment that will be required to turn this innovating new energy source into Australia’s latest export industry.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been ahead of the curve on hydrogen and may well be the reason Mr Shorten has become an advocate. Last year, her Government released a strategy paper about Queensland becoming South-East Asia’s hydrogen hub.

The strategy came after the Premier met with experts in Japan about a proposal to build a revolutionary new solar-to-hydrogen pilot development in central Queensland.

Under the plan, energy produced by solar farms would be used to create liquid hydrogen through electrolysis.

The renewable hydrogen would then be shipped from Gladstone to Japan and used initially to power public transport and cars with fuel cells, as well as households in future.

While the process still requires significant research and investigation, it could mean sunshine is Queensland’s next big export commodity.

This is not Ms Palaszczuk having her moment of pouring water into a petrol tank of an experimental vehicle.

So serious are the Japanese about hydrogen’s potential that University of Tokyo expert Masakazu Sugiyama, who is working alongside industrial giant Sumitomo Corporation, last year briefed state government agencies on the proposal.

Mr Shorten’s plan to also base a hub charged with commercialising hydrogen proposals in Gladstone would be a win for Queensland, if it eventuated.

There would have been mirth also when Sir Joh wanted to turn Queensland into a coal and mineral powerhouse, and now the resources sector is the backbone of this state’s economy.

Queensland has always been a frontier destination, willing to fail often if that’s what’s required to eventually succeed. We should adopt that mindset when it comes to hydrogen and other innovative ideas rather than go to water.

Earning a passport to oblivion

Oliver Bridgeman has emerged to again deny he is a terrorist.

OLIVER Bridgeman, the 21-year-old Toowoomba man wanted by authorities on terrorist charges, has described losing his Australian passport as a “blessing in disguise”. Most Australians probably couldn’t agree more.

Rather than a costly investigation, lengthy criminal proceedings and the likelihood of a long prison sentence all funded by taxpayers if he returned, Bridgeman can stay in Syria, which he has chosen over Australia.

After years of silence, the former Queenslander emerged publicly to continue his denials that he was a terrorist in an interview with journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem.

Bridgeman says he has been doing humanitarian work. Australian authorities do not believe this claim.

When lawyers for Bridgeman tried to negotiate his return to Australia in 2016, the Federal Police cancelled his passport and issued a warrant for his arrest. It is alleged that he took part in “incursions into foreign countries with the intention of engaging in hostile activities”.

It is, however, difficult not to feel for the predicament of Bridgeman’s parents, Kath and Andy. They have fought for years to extricate him from Syria and appealed the cancellation of his passport. However, he now says he’s married and does not want to return. While that means there is no justice locally, many Australians wouldn’t mind a person who betrayed their country living out their days in a hell-on-earth war zone.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Sam Weir, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at www.couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us