Hydrogen dreams fail to secure funding in federal budget
Spruiked as the solution to our energy crisis, budget documents indicate a commitment to a green energy source may be evaporating.
Federal Budget
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It was earmarked as the answer to Australia’s energy crisis and decarbonising our economy, but Budget papers suggest the federal government’s push for hydrogen is running out of gas.
Only $5 million of the $80m previously committed to ‘Hydrogen Highways’ has been spent, funding a single project in Tasmania.
The axed project failed to find investment opportunities for long haul hydrogen trucks and refuelling stations, with the remaining $75m now set to be redistributed to states and territories.
No further investment has yet been allocated to the hydrogen energy supply chain project, which transports liquid hydrogen in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley to Japan.
Just under $4m was provided in the previous Budget, with the project currently in a pre-commercialisation phase.
Some investment is set to continue, with $40m allocated to support NSW’s Hunter region and Newcastle to become “hydrogen ready”, $104m for regional hydrogen hubs and $10m over three years for a National Hydrogen Technology Skills Training Centre in Victoria.
Further science and environmental spending has been cut and reallocated in key departments, including the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
The BoM has had its total resourcing slashed by $51.9M, 7 per cent of its estimated annual expenditure.
The BoM’s emergency management support functions will be transferred to the freshly established National Emergency Management Agency, which is set to receive $5.4m this financial year. As a result, the BoM is set to cut 22 of its 1824 staff members.
Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, will also be expected to shed 500 of its nearly 6000 staff members due to cuts.
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Originally published as Hydrogen dreams fail to secure funding in federal budget
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