Search for Qld’s natural hydrogen kicks off with $4m state funding
Untapped ‘natural’ hydrogen could create a new industry and play a crucial role in decarbonisation but the Qld government has admitted it doesn’t know where it is or where to start looking as it commits $4m to the search.
Mackay
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The state government is hoping $4m will entice investors to take part in what is effectively a blindfolded treasure hunt to find gas.
Resources and Critical Minerals Minister Scott Stewart said Queensland’s untapped, underground ‘natural’ hydrogen could create a new industry and play a crucial role in decarbonisation while admitting they do not know where it is or where to start looking.
Speaking in Mackay on Wednesday, Mr Stewart said they were certain naturally-occurring hydrogen existed and the $4m, allocated in the 2024-25 budget, was about being innovative and taking a “risk” to find it.
“We don’t know exactly where the hydrogen is because we actually haven’t looked for it in the past,” Mr Stewart said.
“Now there’s some theories around it, maybe those Min Min lights that we see out in far west might be naturally-occurring hydrogen that spontaneously combusts so there’s some opportunities there.”
Mr Stewart added gas readings indicated Queensland had natural hydrogen with this discovery process to focus on where larger reservoirs may be hiding.
“As you can imagine, it’s got to be a fairly large reservoir to be able to set up the infrastructure to extract it (the gas) … at this stage, it’s pretty much put a pin in the map and that’s where they’ll start (searching),” he said.
“But geologists are pretty smart people.
“They’ll start to look at rock formations, looking at what’s happening underground and they’ll start to narrow that down.”
Mr Stewart said interested parties would need to undergo a tender process, similar to those who had applied for a slice in the millions on offer to find critical minerals like vanadium and copper.
One such party struck riches with Mr Stewart on Monday that Jericho was granted a mining lease to build a new copper mine in northwest Queensland.
He said it made sense to investigate whether a natural hydrogen industry was viable for Queensland and he was keen to see what leading researchers and organisations could uncover.
Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert said the investment showed the Labor government’s committing to a better future for Queensland and creating more jobs with diversified industries.
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Originally published as Search for Qld’s natural hydrogen kicks off with $4m state funding
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