Future Energy and Alternative Sources
Could a town in WA run on green hydrogen by 2030?
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Q1 · Could a town in WA run entirely on green hydrogen by 2030? Before reading, what do you know about hydrogen as a fuel, how is it made, how is it used, and what are the challenges?
Q2 · What would make a new energy technology genuinely "better" than what we have now? List the criteria you think matter most, and explain why.
At CSIRO's research hub in Western Australia, massive electrolysers fed by solar panels split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, the only by-product is a gentle stream of water vapour. The hydrogen is then compressed and loaded onto test trucks that drive without burning a single drop of fossil fuel. That process, making hydrogen fuel from renewable electricity and water alone, is called green hydrogen, and unlike grey hydrogen (made from natural gas) it produces no carbon emissions. It can be used as a fuel, stored for long periods, or converted back to electricity.
Australia is well positioned to become a hydrogen exporter. Our abundant solar and wind resources can power electrolysers cheaply. The hydrogen can then be liquefied or converted to ammonia for shipment to countries like Japan and South Korea that lack renewable resources but need clean fuels.
The Asian Renewable Energy Hub in Western Australia plans to generate 26 gigawatts of wind and solar power, using half for local industry and exporting the rest as green hydrogen. At full scale, it would be one of the largest energy projects on Earth.
The CSIRO National Hydrogen Roadmap identifies priority actions for building a hydrogen industry, from research and development to infrastructure and export partnerships. The Pilbara region of WA is a focal point due to its combination of solar resources, port access and mining industry demand.
What to write in your book
- Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity
- Australia has abundant solar and wind for cheap electrolysis
- Japan and South Korea are potential export markets for Australian hydrogen
Click each sentence that supports the claim.
The colour labels for hydrogen describe production methods, not appearance. Grey hydrogen is made from natural gas via steam reforming, releasing carbon dioxide. Blue hydrogen is grey hydrogen with carbon capture and storage. Green hydrogen uses renewable electricity to electrolyse water, producing only hydrogen and oxygen.
The economics of green hydrogen are improving rapidly. As renewable electricity becomes cheaper and electrolyser efficiency improves, green hydrogen is approaching cost parity with grey hydrogen in sunny, windy regions like Australia. The main remaining challenge is building the infrastructure to produce, store and transport hydrogen at scale.
A typical electrolyser today consumes about 50 kWh of electricity to produce 1 kg of hydrogen. At wholesale renewable prices of 3 cents per kWh, the electricity cost is $1.50 per kg. Add capital and operating costs, and green hydrogen becomes competitive with grey hydrogen in optimal locations.
What to write in your book
- Grey hydrogen comes from natural gas; green hydrogen comes from renewable electrolysis
- Green hydrogen is approaching cost parity in optimal locations
- Infrastructure for production, storage and transport is the main challenge
Beyond hydrogen, several emerging technologies could transform the energy landscape. Nuclear fusioncombining hydrogen isotopes to release energy, promises virtually unlimited clean power with minimal waste. The international ITER project aims to demonstrate fusion feasibility, but commercial plants are likely decades away.
Advanced solar technologies like perovskite tandem cells could push solar efficiency past 30%, up from about 22% for current silicon panels. Smart grids use digital communication to manage millions of devices, charging electric cars when wind is strong and discharging them when demand peaks.
A smart grid might detect that windy weather in South Australia is producing surplus electricity. It could automatically send price signals to charge electric vehicles across the state, soaking up the excess power that would otherwise be wasted.
What to write in your book
- Fusion could provide virtually unlimited clean energy
- Perovskite solar cells may exceed 30% efficiency
- Smart grids balance supply, demand and storage digitally
Tap each card to flip. Mark Got it when you can recall the answer without flipping.
Despite decades of research, nuclear fusion has not yet achieved net energy gain in a sustained, controlled manner. Experimental reactors have produced fusion reactions, but the energy input still exceeds the energy output. The engineering challenges, containing plasma at 150 million degrees, managing neutron bombardment, and breeding tritium fuel, are immense.
However, progress is accelerating. Private companies and government labs are pursuing multiple fusion approaches. If fusion is achieved, it would offer near-limitless energy from seawater-derived fuel with no long-lived radioactive waste and no risk of meltdown.
The Sun itself is a natural fusion reactor, converting 600 million tonnes of hydrogen into helium every second. Replicating this process on Earth requires temperatures ten times hotter than the Sun's core because we cannot match the crushing gravitational pressure that sustains the Sun.
What to write in your book
- Fusion has not yet achieved net energy gain in a controlled way
- Progress is accelerating with both government and private investment
- If achieved, fusion would offer near-limitless clean energy
At the start of this lesson you were asked whether green hydrogen, made entirely from solar and wind power and releasing only water when burned, could be the missing piece that finally makes a fully renewable Australia possible by 2030.
Now that you've explored how green hydrogen works and what's holding it back, what do you think? Is it the missing piece, and has the evidence changed your original hunch?
Before you begin, estimate:
Green hydrogen production via electrolysis is currently about 70% efficient, meaning 30% of the electrical energy is lost. If Australia produces hydrogen using solar energy and ships it to Japan, where it is converted back to electricity in a fuel cell (50% efficient), what percentage of the original solar energy ends up as electricity in Japan? Think step by step: solar → hydrogen → transport → electricity.
Model answers (click to reveal)
📖 Model Answers
▼MCQ Answers
1. BGreen hydrogen stores and transports renewable energy for use when needed.
2. ATides are predictable because they follow gravitational forces.
3. DAustralia's renewable resources and Asian market proximity create export potential.
4. CPolitical popularity is not one of the four scientific evaluation dimensions.
5. BGeothermal requires hot rock at accessible depths (e.g., Cooper Basin).
SAQ 1, Hydrogen as Energy Carrier (3 marks)
Model answer: Green hydrogen is called an energy carrier rather than an energy source because hydrogen gas (H₂) does not exist in usable quantities in nature. It must be manufactured, typically by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen (electrolysis). The energy stored in hydrogen originally came from another source, such as solar or wind. This makes hydrogen a carrier, like a battery or a tank of petrol, rather than a primary source like sunlight or coal.
One advantage of hydrogen over lithium-ion batteries is energy density by mass. Hydrogen contains about 33 kWh per kg, while lithium-ion batteries store about 0.25 kWh per kg. This makes hydrogen far better for applications where weight matters, such as aviation and long-distance shipping. Hydrogen can also be stored indefinitely and transported through pipelines or as liquid, making it suitable for seasonal energy storage.
One disadvantage is round-trip efficiency. The full chain, electrolysis (70%), transport (90%), fuel cell (50%), results in only about 31.5% of the original electrical energy being recovered. Lithium-ion batteries achieve 85–95% round-trip efficiency. This means hydrogen wastes more than twice as much energy as batteries for the same storage task, making it less efficient for short-term cycling.
SAQ 2, Hydrogen Chain Efficiency (4 marks)
Model answer: To find the overall efficiency, multiply the efficiency of each stage:
Overall efficiency = 100% × 70% × 90% × 50%
= 1.0 × 0.70 × 0.90 × 0.50
= 0.315 = 31.5%
Only 31.5% of the original solar energy ends up as electricity after the complete hydrogen chain.
The "lost" energy becomes heat at each stage:
• Electrolysis: About 30% of electrical energy becomes heat rather than chemical energy in hydrogen bonds. The electrolyser and surrounding water warm up.
• Compression and shipping: Compressing hydrogen gas requires mechanical work, and some energy is lost as heat in compressors and during cooling to cryogenic temperatures (-253°C) for liquid transport.
• Fuel cell: The chemical reaction converting hydrogen and oxygen back to water is only 50% efficient in converting chemical energy to electricity. The remaining 50% is released as heat warming the fuel cell stack.
SAQ 3, Evaluating "Solar and Wind Only" (5 marks)
Model answer: The statement "Australia should invest only in solar and wind and ignore all other energy technologies" is an oversimplification that ignores the complexity of energy system design. While solar and wind are essential, a diversified portfolio is necessary for reliability, economic resilience, and global competitiveness.
Environmental: Solar and wind produce near-zero emissions during operation and are environmentally superior to fossil fuels. However, both are intermittentthey do not produce electricity on demand. Relying solely on them would require massive overbuilding or storage, which has its own environmental footprint (lithium mining, land use for pumped hydro reservoirs).
Economic: Solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new electricity in Australia. However, ignoring hydrogen export would forfeit a potential $100 billion+ industry supplying clean fuel to Japan and Korea. Ignoring geothermal would leave Australia's vast hot-rock resource untapped. Economic diversification reduces exposure to any single technology's cost fluctuations.
Social/Security: A solar-and-wind-only grid could face supply security risks during extended wind lulls or cloudy weeks. The 2021 Texas blackout demonstrated how over-reliance on one source type creates vulnerability. Furthermore, remote mining communities and Indigenous settlements may benefit from small modular nuclear or geothermal where renewable + battery combinations are impractical.
In conclusion, solar and wind should dominate Australia's energy future, but diversification into hydrogen, storage, and potentially geothermal or nuclear creates a more resilient, export-capable, and reliable energy system. The ethical framework demands we evaluate all options rather than committing to a single technology.
🔄 Revisit These Concepts
The World's Largest Battery Is in Victoria
The Victorian Big Battery near Geelong, completed in 2021, was the largest lithium-ion battery in the southern hemisphere at the time, 450 MW / 450 MWh. It uses Tesla Megapacks and charges during the day using surplus solar power, then discharges during evening peak demand. In its first year of operation, it saved Victorian electricity consumers an estimated $50 million by reducing the need for expensive gas peaker plants. The battery can power over 500,000 homes for one hour, or equivalently, provide grid-stabilising frequency response in milliseconds.
Solar-Powered Cricket Venues
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)the world's 10th largest stadium, installed a 1,000-panel solar array on its roof in 2018, generating enough electricity to power the stadium's lighting and operations on sunny match days. During the Boxing Day Test, when 90,000 fans attend, the MCG consumes up to 5 MW of power for lighting, broadcasting, catering, and refrigeration. The solar system reduces grid demand by approximately 10% during daytime events. The MCG also uses a battery system to store excess solar energy for evening matches, demonstrating how large entertainment venues can integrate renewable generation, storage, and grid connectivity, the same principles you have studied in this unit.