Curtin University has been awarded more than $580,000 by the Australian federal government to research and develop new ways of producing, storing and exporting green hydrogen from Australian resources.

The Curtin-led project was announced by the Federal Education Minster as being awarded 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.

“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,” says Professor Chris Moran, Curtin University deputy vice-chancellor research professor.

“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,” professor Buckley says.

“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.”