The Clean Energy Regulator of the Commonwealth and the Federal Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources stated on Friday that they will begin working with industry to test a Guarantee of Origin (GO) program for hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia. A $9.7 million funding commitment was made in this year’s government budget to support the experiment.
Unlike the Smart Energy Council’s hydrogen certification scheme, which focuses primarily on green hydrogen, the government-backed program will monitor and track emissions from a variety of hydrogen production methods and technologies, giving certificates based on that source data.
“The GO program will allow buyers to select items depending on the carbon intensity of hydrogen.” “GO certificates will follow the hydrogen supply chain, giving consumers with transparent information on the carbon intensity of the items they buy,” said David Parker, Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator.
Projects producing hydrogen from renewable power, biomethane, and coal and gas with carbon capture and storage will be included in the plan.
Importantly, the plan provides high-level government-backed legitimacy as well as a centralized database that prevents dispersed verification techniques from causing misunderstanding.
The regulator said it will now begin working with hydrogen players that are either running hydrogen pilot projects or have well-developed plans, with the goal of putting the scheme’s architecture and carbon emission methodology to the test over an 18-month period.
The idea, according to pv magazine Australia, will function similarly to a ticket, with tickets issued by third parties but authenticated on a single common register. The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) would issue a set of numerically identifiable certificates that could be traced and designated inside a single registry using this concept. This method would eliminate duplicate counting and the need to double-check contracts, as well as automate reporting.
According to pv magazine, such a method would also allow for third-party participation, similar to how GreenPower uses the Regulator’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) registry.
The objective is that a model like this will prevent the fragmentation that comes with having numerous separate verification methods managed by various entities, which might cause overseas customers to get confused. Given that the regulator currently controls Australia’s renewable energy systems, including our substantial small and large-scale solar certifications, issuing hydrogen certificates seems like a natural solution.
According to Parker, the chair of the Regulator, the organization is collaborating with other countries through the International Partnership on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) to develop an assurance system that can be trusted by international trading partners and domestic supply chains.
Parker went on to say that trial participants will “help develop emission accounting approaches” tailored to their production techniques, but he didn’t go into detail about the importance of carbon accounting, other than to say that the Regulator will collect and verify data in order to calculate the gross and net carbon intensity of hydrogen and related products.
“The GO trials will play a key part in establishing worldwide standards for monitoring carbon emissions from hydrogen generation, as well as establishing Australia as a global player in the growing hydrogen sector for years to come,” Parker said.
“We intend the GO system to expand to ensure the origin of a range of low-emission products,” he continued, “therefore these trials are an essential step in lowering emissions in Australia and our trade partners.” Parker appears to be referring to sectors such as steel and aluminum, which are projected to switch to hydrogen in the future to replace coal in their operations.
According to the Regulator, the results of the trials will be used to help the federal government draft policies and regulations to assist the industry’s growth.
The National Hydrogen Strategy identified a government-backed hydrogen Guarantee of Origin plan as a top objective. “According to industry comments, a local plan must be globally coordinated and approved by our trade partners.” Customers who buy Australian hydrogen in the future will be able to make an informed decision and quickly select the product that is most suited to their needs, according to Angus Taylor, the Federal Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction.
Given that there are both clean and “dirty” ways to manufacture hydrogen, and Australia is on pace to become one of the world’s hydrogen leaders, there is worry that fossil fuel firms would seek sanctuary in the developing sector. The federal government of Australia, as well as various state governments, have funded fossil hydrogen projects, many of which have been greenwashed to make them look cleaner than they are.
While the Regulator’s program will include both fossil and renewable energy projects, it has the potential to make the emissions connected with each project clear, perhaps reducing greenwashing, which has been an issue in the sector.
Australia’s hydrogen generation for export and local usage, according to the federal government, may create more than $50 billion in additional GDP by 2050.
