Hydrogen was once sold as a universal climate fix — a clean, green wonder fuel for cars, homes, power grids and even global export - but reality has cooled that buzz.
Australia's largest export has a problem - its low grade and high impurities make it unsuitable for producing low emissions iron and steel with current technology
Australia will lose thousands of jobs to rival resource-rich economies if the federal government fails to kickstart the nascent green iron industry, experts warn.
In every type of steelmaking, the challenge of using hydrogen to cut emissions is different but the long term possibilities for Australia are enormous.
Green steel made with renewable hydrogen could produce 25,000 Australian jobs but the Pilbara's iron ore would be shipped east to avoid high labour costs.
