PRL Media/news, page-328

Zero carbon green hydrogen on the move

Australian Future Energy has hit a clean hydrogen milestone after reaching an investment and partnering agreement with Japan’s ITOCHU Corporation.The Memorandum of Understanding with one of Japan’s leading trading companies was described by chief executive officer Kerry Parker as the “pivot point” for Australia’s hydrogen industry and the company’s Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project (GEAP).GEAP will take coal and put it through a proven gasification process technology to produce hydrogen contained in ammonia and pipeline gas.Importantly, the project will focus on utilising the carbon dioxide rather than just storing it underground.The $1bn project, which is now close to commencing its front end engineering design (FEED) study, will produce about 230,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of ammonia and 14 PJ of pipeline gas, roughly equal to about 91,000tpa of hydrogen.It comes as China, Japan and Korea ramp up investment into fuel cell electric vehicles.“We are now at a turning point for the Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project. Potential international investment in the project, from a party as credible as ITOCHU, demonstrates its long-term viability and profitability,” Parker noted.