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EXPERTS DISCUSS FUTURE OF HYDROGEN ECONOMY
9 May 2006

The future use of hydrogen as an energy source was the topic of discussion at the annual Science at the Shine Dome symposium held in Canberra last week.

Top researchers from across Australia and the United States in fields such as physics, molecular biosciences, mathematics and organic chemistry discussed how Australia can use science to advance to a hydrogen economy.

'Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe. However, like most useful substances, hydrogen is not without its problems,' Director of the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship Program, Dr John Wright explained during his symposium address.

'Hydrogen needs to be coaxed from its combination with other elements to get the benefits. In specific combinations with oxygen it becomes explosive and, being so light, it is a fugitive gas, which challenges us to contain and store it appropriately,' Dr Wright said.

Presentations during the symposium highlighted the need for renewable energy options to counter rising fuel prices, finite energy supplies, security, pollution and climate change that are current energy challenges that hydrogen can offer a solution to.

International guest at the symposium, Dr George Crabtree from Argonne National Laboratory in the United States said that although today's technology enables several routes for producing, storing and using hydrogen, none of them are yet competitive with the cost, performance or reliability of fossil fuels.

'Dramatic advances in the basic understanding of hydrogen and its interactions with materials are needed before we can bring a hydrogen economy to a practical realisation,' Dr Crabtree said.

A practical application of hydrogen energy is currently being used in Western Australia with three hydrogen buses transporting the public around Perth.

The hydrogen symposium was the final session in the three day Science at the Shine Dome event that included the election of 18 scientists as Fellows into the Australian Academy of Science and the presentation of 11 awards in recognition of the contribution that individual scientists have made to science.

'The symposium is an important annual event because it places important research topics on the national agenda and allows Australian scientists' to contribute to issues that are not only affecting Australia but the rest of the world as well,' symposium convenor, Dr Michael Barber said.

Further information on Science at the Shine Dome is available from the Australian Academy of Science website at www.science.org.au/sats2006. Transcripts from the symposium will be made available on the Academy website.