ANU I2S recently chaired sessions and participated in panels at Japan Clean Energy Week, incorporating the Connecting Green Hydrogen and Offshore Wind conferences, involving over 3,000 participants from around the world. It was an exciting time in Tokyo. Here’s what you should know.
Green Hydrogen
Hydrogen carriers—the chemical energy carriers that allow hydrogen to be moved or stored—are certainly technical. But they also have important social and economic considerations. The ability to safely and efficiently transport hydrogen, what former Australian Chief Scientist Alan Finkel calls ‘shipping sunshine’, is critical to the energy transition.
Our diversely experienced panel included one of Japan’s leading hydrogen scientists and inventor’s Chiyoda Corporation’s Dr Yoshimi Okada, Canadian shipping corporation, Trigon Pacific, a KL-based clea energy investment analyst and a lawyer advising clients on how to engage with the emerging hydrogen energy sector. Dr Okada’s work over several decades is currently the focus of a major shipping trial between the Sultenate of Brunei and Tokyo, exploring methods for hydrogenation/dehydrogenation to improve hydrogen transport safety and efficiency.
We also discussed the social components of the hydrogen industry with Dan Woznow of Trigon Pacific Terminals Limited sharing how his company is engaging with First Nations communities through equity sharing.
Research from our own Next Generation Engagement Program at the Crawford School of Public Policy also shows how important community engagement is to new technology readiness and acceptance in communities. There are clear opportunities to build understanding of hydrogen now to support its acceptance later.
NexantECA’s Connie Lo and Anderson Mori and Tomotsue’s Teruma Naito made clear that improved understanding is important not only for community acceptance but for the investments necessary to advance green hydrogen. And the debates between blue, green and Chiyoda’s ‘turquoise’ hydrogen continue. Totally lost on this rather aquatic colour spectrum? Don’t worry. This factsheet from CSIRO will have you sorted and telling all your friends about the choices we need to make for hydrogen-fuelled futures.
Offshore wind
I2S’ Sara Bice and CircularEco’s Founder and CEO Mary Barry contributed to two further panels at the Japan Conference, these on offshore wind. Both sessions made clear that offshore wind holds great potential for the region but lags the development seen in Europe.
Key takeaways from the sessions included:
–need for flexible EIA regimes that can respond to rapidly developing technology
–improved SIA techniques for offshore technology with onshore social and cultural impacts
-recognition of the role of politics in offshore roll out and ways to work effectively with government
-importance of skills and capacity development to support the offshore wind sector and universities’ key role in this
-centrality of social licence to operate and offshore wind’s success.
CircularEco’s Mary Barry emphasied that both the policy and the technology pieces of the renewables puzzle are vital to project success. She said that it is important to understand, “not only the technology and the regulation necessary for Japan to advance offshore wind. Our point of difference is that we also understand communities. We know that where new technologies are introduced, community concerns and opposition can have serious impacts on or ability to deliver those technologies.”
I2S’ work demonstrates the importance of social licence and working with local communities. Community engagement, genuine responsiveness to communities’ ideas and concerns will be key to building acceptance for offshore wind and to assisting governments to develop the workforce skills and capabilities critical to the energy transition.