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This paper explores the skills landscape of the emerging green hydrogen industry in Australia drawing on data collected from a study that gathered insights on training gaps from a range of hydrogen industry participants. A total of 41 industry participants completed a survey and 14 of those survey respondents participated in industry consultations. The findings revealed widespread perceptions of training and skilling as being very important to the industry, but under-provisioned across the sector. Data were analysed to consider the problem of skilling the green hydrogen industry and the barriers and enablers as perceived by industry stakeholders. In this paper we argue that urgent cross-sector attention needs to be paid to hydrogen industry training and skill development systems in Australia if the promise of green hydrogen as a clean energy source is to be realised. • Cross-sector collaboration is needed to support education and training on hydrogen energy. • Insufficient training is available to support skill development in hydrogen energy. • Training on electrolysers, fuel cells, hydrogen storage and refuelling stations is most needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dedicated grid-tied offshore hybrid energy system for hydrogen production is a promising solution to unlock the full benefit of offshore wind and solar energy and realize decarbonization and sustainable energy security targets in electricity and other sectors. Current knowledge of these offshore hybrid systems is limited, particularly in the integration, component control, and allocation aspects. Therefore, a grid-integrated analytical model with a power dispatch allocation strategy between the grid and electrolyzer for the co-production of hydrogen from the offshore hybrid energy system is developed in this paper. While producing hydrogen, the proposed offshore hybrid energy system supplies a percentage of its capacity to the onshore grid facility, and the amount of the electricity is quantified based on the electricity market price and available total offshore generation. The detailed controls of each component are discussed. A case study considers a hypothetical hybrid offshore energy system of 10 MW situated in a potential offshore off the NSW of Australia based on realistic metrological data. A grid-scale proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer stack is used and a model predictive power controller is implemented on the distributed hydrogen generation scheme. The model is helpful for the assessment or optimization of both the economics and feasibility of the dedicated offshore hybrid energy farm for hydrogen production systems. • Modeling of a grid-integrated analytical model of an OHES for hydrogen co-production. • Development of a power dispatch allocation strategy for the proposed OHES. • Development of detailed controls of each component used in the proposed OHES. • Demonstrations of a case study considering 10 MW OHES situated in offshore off the NSW of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is a potential future solution addressing global warming, climate change, and energy security challenges. It efficiently allows for storing excess renewable energy and generating heat and electricity without increasing greenhouse gas emissions. It can create a practical pathway to replace fossil fuel vehicles and move toward a net-zero transport sector. Various hydrogen strategies and industry roadmaps have been developed to identify key goals, set targets for progress, and develop strategic plans to remove barriers. As identified through these documents, the development of consistent national and international codes and standards and the creation of clear procedures and regulations are essential for the safe implementation and adaptation of hydrogen systems, leading to the successful process of hydrogen sector. This paper provides a comprehensive and critical review of the different aspects of hydrogen safety to advance hydrogen regulations, codes, and standards. While it summarises the key international hydrogen frameworks, the main focus of the paper is on Australian plans, progress, and working groups for hydrogen deployment that will help future green energy society. • The safety developments affect the cost of Australian hydrogen scaling targets. • Training and safety developments are essential to achieve public trust in Australia. • Better community engagement is needed to move from hydrogen planning to its development. • Data-based tools assist the development of hydrogen safety procedures in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence is lacking on how inequality in homeowner uptake of solar panels has changed over time. This paper assesses changes in inequality over time using four Australian household surveys from 2012 to 2020. There is evidence of an intuitive transition where average uptake for homeowners with net-wealth just below the median (the fourth and fifth deciles) improved first, with subsequent gains for homeowners in the third net-wealth decile. However, there were still some significant shortfalls by 2020, especially for the first (i.e. lowest) net-wealth decile. In particular, the lowest net-wealth decile had lower uptake by 9.4 percentage points in 2012 and there was a similar gap below the highest decile of 10.6 percentage points in 2019–20. With control variables these corresponding gaps were 8.0 and 8.3 percentage points respectively. Inequality and changes have been less pronounced based on other aspects like education, income, and welfare status. A new policy implication is that Australian support should primarily target the bottom two net-wealth deciles among homeowners. Australia's experience can inform policies for other countries and clean energy technologies. The general implication is that policy approaches should be dynamic and detailed to address inequality changes over time in each context. • We assess the changes in solar-uptake distributions for Australian homeowners. • Changes in solar uptake inequality are most pronounced with respect to net wealth. • Persistent inequality exists for the lowest net-wealth decile from 2012 to 2020. • Deciles 3 to 5 had higher solar uptake following 2012, relative to other deciles. • Policies should be dynamic to account for distributional changes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain. • Case study for ammonia trade between Australia and Germany in 2030. • Sensitivity analysis on ammonia prices for technical and economic parameters. • Cost comparison of conventional and green ammonia production. This paper contributes to understanding the transformation of global energy trade to green energy carriers, focusing on green ammonia as the foreseeable first green hydrogen carrier. We provide a comprehensive overview of today's ammonia trade and assess scaling options for the trade of green ammonia. To that aim, we develop an optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain that covers all steps from green ammonia production in an exporting country, up to delivery to a harbor in an importing country. The model endogenously chooses among different technology options and determines cost minimal operation. In a case study, we apply the model to the large-scale import of ammonia from Australia to Germany in a scenario for 2030. The results show that green ammonia can reach cost parity with gray ammonia even for moderate gas prices (but not necessarily with blue ammonia) if CO 2 prices are high enough. We also provide a sensitivity analysis with respect to the interest rate and other key technical and economic parameters and show that cracking ammonia to provide pure hydrogen comes at a 45 % cost markup per MWh at the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) has the potential to provide future clean energy solutions. Geoscience Australia has demonstrated how its national seabed mapping programme can be successfully applied in assessing containment integrity in offshore basins. These assessments include targeted seabed research that aims to reduce uncertainty around the risks of CO2 storage by developing an integrated understanding of the physical relationships between the deeper basin structures, the shallow (<100m) sub-surface and seabed environments. This paper presents an overview of the science strategy developed to undertake this work in the Australian context, with reference to case studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change due to greenhouse gases emission from fossil fuels has prompted several governments to channel resources in the commercial utilisation of renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one of the renewable energy sources that is highly untapped and underutilized. Australia has the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world. This paper will focus on the need to improve solar energy utilisation in Australia, challenges facing it and the future benefits. This study shows successfully storing and transferring solar energy will ensure that this energy source will make a significant contribution to Australia''s electricity grid supply in the future and Australia will be well positioned to assist in meeting its growing clean energy demand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We are told that electric vehicles, cars in particular, will be good for the environment. But what exactly might this mean? It is true that end use emissions will be significantly reduced when we move from fossil fuels to green energy sources? Assuming that the demand for such cars, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in particular will grow, we can expect a significant number of such vehicles manufactured in future years. Given the potentially relatively lower cost (fewer moving parts) compared to internal combustion engine vehicles as well as the significantly lower usage costs per kilometre, we would expect a level of uptake that could impact on the performance of the road network (perhaps increased congestion and crash risk) but also a concomitant reduced use of public transport and fuel excise loss. In this paper, we apply the MetroScan modelling system in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area (GSMA) over the period 2021–2056 to identify the likely impact that the growth in BEV ownership and use will have on vehicle kilometres, modal shares, government revenues, levels of CO 2 emissions and other impacts. Moreover, we investigate the introduction of a BEV usage charge proposed in Australia to see what it might do to these key performance indicators and whether it can offset the adverse effects during BEV uptake such as government fuel excise revenue loss and increased congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]