A $7.5 MILLION pilot hydrogen plant research project will be set up at the state government’s Redlands Research Centre.
Professor Ian Mackinnon, from Queensland University of Technology, said solar electricity would be used in the plant to generate hydrogen from salt water.
Hydrogen is the universe’s most abundant element.
It is explosive, but when bonded with oxygen in a controlled environment, like in a fuel cell, the energy output is safe, allowing electricity to be produced while emitting only water.
The technology has long been used to power satellite electronics and is beginning to be used in cars with electric motors, replacing the internal combustion engine.
But the zero-emission technology could also be used for electricity grid supplies, provided enough hydrogen can be supplied.
Costs associated with extracting hydrogen from water are expensive when energy from fossil fuel power stations is used.
But advances in renewable energy, like solar, and improvements in battery and fuel cell technologies are fueling dreams of a hydrogen economy.
Professor Mackinnon said he hoped the success of the pilot hydrogen plant would open the door for the commercial development of hydrogen-generating plants throughout regional Australia.
“The pilot plant is to demonstrate different technologies for renewable energy,” he said.
“(It will) help determine the viability of establishing hybrid renewable energy plants to generate hydrogen for export and local use.”
The pilot plant research project would benchmark technologies used in electrolysis – the process used to extract hydrogen from water using an electrical charge – against existing commercial standards.
It would also further investigate energy storage and chemical monitoring and measurement.
The project is in its planning stage, with efforts to set up the pilot hydrogen plant tipped for next year.
Professor Mackinnon said he came up with the pilot hydrogen plant idea to further test Redlands Research Facility’s concentrated photovoltaic array, developed by Japanese energy giant Sumitomo Electric Industries.
The array, which tracks the sun, is up to two-and-a-half times more efficient at converting the sun’s rays into electricity than standard photovoltaic technology.
“Although they look similar to traditional photovoltaic panels, CPV systems have a layer of lenses over the top of the photovoltaic cells that concentrates the sunlight and makes the system far more efficient,” he said.
Professor Mackinnon said the pilot hydrogen plant project also involved Griffith University, Swinburne University of Technology, The University of Tokyo and industry partner Energy Developments Pty Limited.
Redlands Research Facility is at 26 – 40 Delancey Street, Cleveland.
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