A Curtin University project that proposes turning hydrogen into a powder so that it can be safely exported has been awarded A$5 million (USD 3.2 million) in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Developed in partnership with Velox Energy Materials, the Kotai Hydrogen Project will use a new method of hydrogen production and transportation developed by Curtin’s Hydrogen Storage Research Group (HSRG).
“Our aim is to provide a circular hydrogen export value chain,” Craig Buckley, head of the HSRG, said in a media statement. “The initial research component of the project will feed into the commercial stage, where a pilot facility will be designed and built in Perth to evaluate the technology for large-scale production directly from renewable electricity.”
Hydrogen has long been identified as a clean energy source, however, there are challenges in transporting it affordably and practically. One established method is using sodium borohydride powder as a carrier, however, it isn’t popular because the by-product left behind, known as sodium metaborate, has always been expensive to recycle.
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