Finkel’s national hydrogen strategy gets green light, but could be lifeline for coal

State and federal energy ministers on Friday have adopted the National Hydrogen Strategy, prepared by chief scientist Alan Finkel, but serious questions remain over whether it will position Australia as a “green hydrogen” leader, as hoped by some, or if it will instead be used as another prop for the coal industry and carbon capture technology.

Chief scientist Alan Finkel wants a national hydrogen strategy.

The COAG energy council agreed to Finkel’s vision for a multi-billion dollar “technology-neutral” hydrogen export industry, with efforts by the ACT energy minister to limit hydrogen production to only using to renewables, rejected by federal minister Angus Taylor, who chaired the meeting.

In an interview before the meeting, Taylor suggested hydrogen production should be “technology neutral”, indicating it could be down using brown coal. There are fears the strategy will be used as an excuse to prop up the economics of coal and use hydrogen as part of marketing ploy in the same league as “clean coal”.

Read the story from RenewEconomy by Michael Mazengarb - “Finkel’s national hydrogen strategy gets green light, but could be lifeline for coal.”