CANBERRA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia's national science agency will lead an international program aimed at strengthening the country's hydrogen industry.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on Wednesday announced the two-year research, design and development International Collaboration Program that costs 5 million Australian dollars (3.7 million U.S. dollars) to support its Hydrogen Industry Mission.
Launched in May, the mission aims to drive down the price of domestic hydrogen production below 2 Australian dollars per kg.
Larry Marshall, the chief executive of the CSIRO, said the program would support the collaboration between CSIRO scientists and leading researchers from around the world.
"Our Hydrogen Industry Mission recognizes that, as the global investment in clean energy ramps up, we need to be on the front foot and leverage international collaboration in hydrogen RD&D to give Australia the best advantage we can to capture this market opportunity," he said in a media release.
The program will seek to increase collaboration on hydrogen between the industry and researchers in Australia and advance the development of low-emissions technology.
The federal government in November 2019 published the National Hydrogen Strategy, saying that the industry could be worth 11 billion Australian dollars (8.2 billion U.S. dollars) annually to the Australian economy by 2050.
The landmark emissions roadmap from September 2020 identified hydrogen as one of five priority low-emissions technologies.
Patrick Hartley, the leader of the Hydrogen Industry Mission, said the global push from business, research and government for clean hydrogen was unprecedented.
"CSIRO is well positioned to benefit from this emerging global and national opportunity to enable our transition to net zero emissions," he said. Enditem