Curtin green hydrogen research supported with ARC funding

Curtin University research that aims to develop a new way of producing, storing and exporting green hydrogen from Australian resources has been awarded more than $580,000 by the federal government in the form of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project grant.

The new research will be led by Professor Craig Buckley from Curtin’s School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences.

Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran congratulated Professor Buckley and the team on receiving research funding through the ARC Linkage Program.

“The ARC Linkage Program supports research that encourages the transfer of skills, knowledge and ideas as a basis for securing real-world and commercial benefits,” Professor Moran said. “Professor Buckley and his team’s research has the potential to support the creation of a new export industry in Australia by harnessing our rich natural resources to develop a new renewable energy source.”

Professor Buckley said the research would investigate creating a closed-loop energy cycle using green hydrogen and renewable energy sources.

“Our research aims to develop a new method of producing, storing and exporting green hydrogen using Australian resources,” he said. “The project will investigate exporting sodium borohydride, produced from borax using renewable energy, to countries that are seeking hydrogen from renewable sources, rather than fossil fuels.

“By adding water to the sodium borohydride, green hydrogen will be released with the spent material then shipped back to Australia for recycling back to sodium borohydride, creating a closed-loop energy cycle.”

The ARC Linkage Program promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.

Image: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Smirk Dingo