The New Zealand Government is investing $6 million in green hydrogen research projects over the next three years, which aim to support the country’s move towards a more sustainable, low-emissions economy.
One of the projects includes the development of safe, low-cost green hydrogen storage materials from New Zealand resources.
The project is co-led by Prof Sally Brooker, of the Otago chemistry department, and Dr Paul Jerabek, of the Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon Institute of Hydrogen Technology in Germany.
Prof Brooker said green hydrogen was a key commodity chemical and a carbon-zero fuel, so it had potential to become a key vector to carry and store renewable energy.
The challenge was to store it compactly.
At present, it is stored either by compressing it to high pressure, or by liquefaction through cryogenic cooling.
Dr Jerabek said they aimed to develop a commercially viable metal alloy material capable of safe and compact storage of hydrogen at close to ambient pressure and temperature.
Prof Brooker said they would combine scientific, engineering and economic expertise to test if New Zealand resources, such as ilmenite, could be used to generate those metal alloy materials cost-effectively and sustainably — with the benefits retained in the region.
The project has just been awarded a three-year research grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said the partnership would provide research opportunities in both countries through close co-operation in the development of new green hydrogen technologies and processes.
"Green hydrogen could play an important part of the clean energy mix needed to ensure a sustainable future.
"It could help us to reach our goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and to transition to a clean, green and carbon neutral economy by 2050," she said.
