Join the push to
net zero
emissions
Master Plumbers believes embracing green hydrogen will go a long way to meeting our goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The plumbing and gasfitting industry has an exciting opportunity to lead the charge towards a nation-wide push towards green hydrogen, in line with the commitment several Australian states and territories have made to produce net zero emissions by 2050.
“a zero emissions fuel that exists on Earth in abundance, can easily be extracted using basic chemistry and offers jobs and investment in Australia for decades to come.”
That’s the conclusion of a new discussion paper prepared for Master Plumbers, which outlines the significant opportunities and challenges presented to the industry by the shift towards hydrogen.
Traditionally, hydrogen has been produced by coal and gas. This ‘grey’ hydrogen, as it has become known, emits carbon dioxide. According to the International Energy Agency, around 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is pumped into the environment each year due to the production of hydrogen.
Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel describes hydrogen as
As Governments around the world grapple with options to achieve net
12 | Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine | Spring 2021
zero emissions and create more sustainable futures for generations to come, ‘green’ hydrogen has the potential to be a key enabler. As the name suggests, green hydrogen is the cleanest type of hydrogen, generated by renewable energy sources without emitting any carbon in the first place. The process of creation involves electrolysis, which extracts hydrogen from water. When the electrolyser (the device which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical energy) is powered by renewable energy, the whole process is emission free.
