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Hydrogen Australia’s Zero Carbon Certification
Australia is one step closer to gaining a firm foothold in the lucrative green hydrogen market with a scheme that provides an authentic stamp of approval for zero carbon products.
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Zero Carbon Certification: the five-step strategy
1. Specification of the all-renewable production of hydrogen (followed by metals, ammonia other derivatives) 2. Uniqueness of certificates to prevent double batching 3. Transparency to gauge production levels, backed by full documentation available to the developer, and the creation of a renewable hydrogen project registry 4. Exclusive certificates for account holder (eg project owner), and 5. Demonstrated proof of net-zero emissions production.
A Zero Carbon Certification scheme will help Australia realise its ambitions as a global industrial powerhouse AUSTRALIA’S POTENTIAL as a leading producer and exporter of renewable hydrogen to burgeoning markets such as Germany, Japan and South Korea is indisputable. Australian industry would welcome protocols that help unlock renewable hydrogen supply chain investment opportunities and international trade.
To help set the train in motion, the Australian Smart Energy Council (SEC) has joined forces with the German Energy Agency (dena) to develop the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme with a Guarantee of Origin; a mechanism to assess embedded carbon ratings.
Max Hewitt of SEC Division, Hydrogen Australia, which is delivering the scheme, explained a tracking system will assess product quality and the greenhouse gas emissions, if any, associated with production in participating hydrogen, ammonia and metals projects.
“An auditor or technically proficient person will evaluate the participating site and assess it according to our particular criteria for what constitutes green hydrogen, that is hydrogen with no embedded carbon.
“This enables consumers to identify and purchase green hydrogen or ammonia, rather than fossil fuel generated commodities,” he said.
Finer details such as scope three emissions generated via product transport are yet to be determined, he said of the Zero Carbon Certification initiative led and funded by industry and a philanthropic funding body committed to tackling climate change.
Responding to industry and climate
Max revealed that industry has been crying out for a zero-carbon certification scheme and that Hydrogen Australia has drawn up a list of key renewables projects, in particular export focused ones, eager to become certified and ready for international markets.
Among these are CWP which is developing the 26GW Asian Renewables Energy Hub in the Pilbara, and H2U, the Hydrogen Utility which acknowledges customers want to know how much carbon is embedded in the products they are buying, and how and where they are produced.
Global Alliance Powerfuels, the international partner network furthering the development of carbon neutral powerfuels is a key global collaborator in the Zero Carbon Scheme that also complements the work of SEC with partners ANU and Evoenergy on the ACT renewable hydrogen cluster. (See following pages.)
“Our aim is to be as consistent and collaborative
as possible by developing more strong local and international ties, especially with those regions that will have a surge in demand for hydrogen,” said Max.
“And we want to move quickly. The Zero Carbon Certification pilot scheme is scheduled for launch around Easter. Timing is important to industry; people are becoming frustrated by lack of any signs of substantial progress or developments on the government’s hydrogen certification scheme which is supposed to be key to the national hydrogen strategy.”
Other strong forces are at play.
External pressures
Overseas there is growing momentum for stringent carbon emission controls, notably the EU’s introduction of carbon (tax) emissions border adjustments. Canada and the US are following suit and others will follow in the bid to ramp up decarbonisation of industrial manufacturing processes.
“If you are concerned about climate change you cannot be technology neutral,” SEC Government Relations Manager Wayne Smith said. “Countries exporting products with embedded carbon will suffer economically.
“Australia cannot achieve net zero emissions without
decarbonising heavy industry. More broadly the future of energy is 100 per cent renewables but increasingly people are looking to 500 per cent and that means building a really strong and with it prosperous export industry for aluminium, steel, ammonia and more, and again certification is fundamental to that.
“The Zero Carbon Certification scheme will make that
happen. It will be critical in building a net zero carbon future.”
