BP has stood down contractors working on its biofuel plant just weeks before discovering if its adjacent green hydrogen project will win $1 billion of government backing.
The Conversation is independent news and views from the academic and research community. Professional editors work with universities, CSIRO and research institutes. Reproduced with here permission.
In The Hague this week, Australia worked hard to minimise the legal liability of major emitters and fossil fuel exporters for their contribution to climate change.
Thirty per cent of Australia's emissions come from industry like LNG and the Federal Government needs to start pushing change now to have any hope of achieving net-zero by 2050.
The latest science is clear: "Every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the likelihood and severity of many extremes...every effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions matters."
In every type of steelmaking, the challenge of using hydrogen to cut emissions is different but the long term possibilities for Australia are enormous.
In this week's budget the Morrison Government ignored clean energy and instead took a long-odds bet that carbon capture and storage will allow fossil fuels to carry on untouched by climate concerns.
There are rapidly escalating risks in global warming between 1.5℃ and 2℃ and the focus now must be on governments’ 2030 targets for emissions reduction.
The cost of storing CO2 produced when hydrogen is made from coal or gas will likely make blue hydrogen uncompetitive against green hydrogen made with renewable electricity, ANU scientists conclude.
Global warming can be limited to 1.5°C with commitments now to significant emissions reductions this decade, and in a circular logic, those commitments need faith that climate change can be tamed.
Emissions are on track to near 3℃ warming by 2100 that would give future Australians a seriously degraded life, according to the Australian Academy of Science, but strong action this decade can produce a better future.
The world does not have room to plant enough trees to provide "right to pollute" offsets for companies claiming net-zero by 2050 and more actual reductions in emissions are required.
