![]() ![]() Achieving scale in hydrogen production for these sectors can then pave the way for relatively smaller scale industries, such as food and meat processing. There are also large-scale opportunities in other high temperature processes, such as in cement and bricks. Digestion takes place at 150-270☌ and calcination at temperatures above 1000☌. Refining bauxite to produce alumina has four stages: digestion, clarification, precipitation, and calcination. Primary aluminium is made from bauxite, which is refined to make alumina before being smelted to make aluminium. ![]() Australia is the second largest producer of alumina in the world, and the largest exporter. Alumina will likely require hydrogen to decarbonise the calcination process. We discussed these processes in more detail in our White Paper (AHC, 2021), and have also recently completed a report with Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (2023) on decarbonisation options for different high temperature heating applications. However, technological constraints make electrification challenging for processes requiring more than 800☌. High temperature processes: Experts consider that electrification will be more cost effective than hydrogen and other alternatives to decarbonise many heating applications. This number rises by a further 15,000 jobs if global shipping moved exclusively to ammonia and Australia maintained 6.5 per cent market share. Researchers from the Grattan Institute (Wood, Dundas & Ha, 2020: 36) state that if Australia was to produce 6.5 per cent of the world’s ammonia with green hydrogen by 2050, there would be a further 5,000 ongoing jobs. Both ammonia and methanol are considered logical replacements for the bunker fuel used for shipping. There is an established global market, with extensive experience in handling. Hydrogen is used for both fuel and feedstock to make methanol, and clean hydrogen is a good prospect to decarbonise the sector’s high temperature processes. Unlike hydrogen, ammonia has been traded globally for decades and has well developed technologies for large scale storage and transport. This is particularly as decarbonisation policies start to bite and we can produce hydrogen cleanly.Īmmonia and methanol: Ammonia holds great promise because we have an existing industry to decarbonise, ammonia is a vector for hydrogen export, and there is also a new export opportunity because Japan and Korea anticipate using clean ammonia in power stations. While Australia is not a first mover on DRI with hydrogen, we are the largest exporter of iron ore, and so there is a market opportunity. Currently, natural gas is used to produce reduced iron however, steelmakers are considering the use of hydrogen for DRI manufacturing to make the steelmaking process CO2-free, and several projects are in train. This makes metallic iron without melting it. Iron: Direct reduced iron (DRI) is produced by removing oxygen from the iron ore. These are scalable markets and support both direct and indirect growth in jobs. This is because each of these sectors is more dependent on hydrogen for decarbonisation and can also drive large sources of demand. The processes that appear to hold the greatest benefits for more immediate ‘no regrets’ planning and investment in hydrogen include iron, ammonia, methanol, alumina and other high temperature applications.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |