Woodside sold the project to an insubstantial company to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs: now it and its competitors will pay the price.
WA Premier Mark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or face curtailed mining, but his successor Roger Cook slashed water supply protections after a possibly empty threat from the US miner.
Green hydrogen produced using renewable energy is considered a significant future fuel for industry and long-distance transport. Most hydrogen is currently made from methane, and the process emits significant carbon emissions. When a portion of those emissions is captured and stored, it is termed blue hydrogen.
WA's iron ore miners must develop wind power and drop decades of rivalry to share transmission networks to meet their emissions reduction targets, according to Alinta Energy.
In every type of steelmaking, the challenge of using hydrogen to cut emissions is different but the long term possibilities for Australia are enormous.
Australia cannot compete exporting difficult to transport hydrogen but could use it locally to make low emissions products like ammonia for overseas markets.
WA will be home to two of the largest green hydrogen electrolysers in the world to feed an ammonia plant and inject the clean fuel into the South West gas grid.
Cheaper solar power making green hydrogen production competitive in many countries by 2030 in a boon for use in Australia but a hurdle for dreams of a huge export market.
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.
