Australia’s regional ports are well positioned to benefit from the decarbonization of global maritime fleets to flow “Green fuels” such as ammonia and hydrogen, according to renowned Australian environmental scientist Professor Peter Newman.

Referring to new research from the World Bank, the professor of sustainability at Curtin University in Perth said The fifth state that there is “no place” for gas in the decarbonisation of maritime transport and that green fuels are the answer to reducing emissions in the maritime transport sector.

“The World Bank report shows that you will have stranded assets if you try to build a fleet of LNG-based vessels, you don’t have to.”

According to the Shipping Industry Report, which is responsible for 3% of global emissions, there is a future fuel market estimated at over $ 1 trillion. The report notes that countries with significant renewable energy resources, such as Australia, are ready to take advantage of this emerging market.

Green hydrogen makes sense in the bush, not in the cities

Unlike the trains, cars, bicycles and scooters used to move people around cities which are easy to electrify and use renewable energy, ships and planes “need more grunts” and lithium-ion batteries will not. probably not up to the task.

The other complication with planes and ships is that they have a long lifespan and therefore need cleaner alternatives to work with existing fleets. Newman says it’s “pretty straightforward” to make hydrogen from solar and wind and then turn it into various marine or jet fuels.

“What we are seeing now is ammonia winning the race over shipping and synthetic jet fuel for airplanes.”

The problem with hydrogen, however, is that it is difficult to store and transport.

Newman’s solution to these challenges is to transform spacious regional ports into green hydrogen hubs for manufacturing aviation fuels and other sustainable exports such as green steel, battery metals and green food products. .

He says that clustering industrial processes around transport and freight “in the bush” is an economically viable route for green hydrogen.

“It won’t be used in cities at all, it will be very expensive and you can already use renewables directly in homes and cars.”

According to economist Ross Garnaut’s vision to turn Australia into a renewable superpower, Newman reaffirms that Australia has all the sun and wind it needs to become a leader in green manufacturing and start exporting products. value-added rather than just sending raw materials to markets such as Europe.

He said the report’s findings support Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s plans to use his iron ore mining business FMG as a petri dish for green hydrogen and ammonia technologies, including transition of its fleet of ships to green ammonia.

The timeline for the report also follows Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s recent pledge for a $ 15 billion fund to create a manufacturing sector fueled by clean energy, and the failure of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. to commit to a goal of net zero before a world climate summit.