172 R. M. URIU
key technology is the furthest from commercialization, and thus has been
left to the third phase of the Road Map.
The industry must also improve its transport technology. Japan’s
efforts have been ongoing for more than 30 years, dating back to 1993,
when the WE-NET program selected liquid hydrogen (LH2) as the best
way to transport hydrogen (Nogrady 2017; Akaishi 2007; Koguchi 2010;
Hirai 1997; Chiba et al. 1998). 29 Since then Japanese researchers and
industry have been investigating a wide range of possible technologies and
have begun work on building a hydrogen transportation infrastructure
(Karagiannopoulos et al. 2017; Grandum 2016, pp. 29–30; Nishimura
2015, pp. 16, 22 and 27). 30 The jury is still out as to which of these
technologies will emerge as the best for transporting hydrogen, so at the
moment the Road Map only provides funding for a wide range of R&D
and pilot projects.
Although the technical obstacles to Japan’s hydrogen society still seem
daunting, potential producers of hydrogen are beginning to eye the huge
market opportunity it would represent. This is especially true for countries that have ample renewable energy resources. Norway, for example,
may be able to turn energy from its hydroelectric resources and wind
power into hydrogen (Karagiannopoulos et al. 2017). Further, hydrogen
can be produced anywhere in the world, including even the most remote
or underdeveloped of areas. All that would be needed would be ample
sunshine or wind (Lazarou and Makridis 2017, p. 3). 31 As one example,
a remote and undeveloped area like Australia’s Pilbara “is considered the
world’s best solar resource in terms of the intensity of the sunlight and
the fact that it’s never cloudy. That means you can potentially set up a
big solar farm there (to create hydrogen) … then you need to get that
renewable energy to Japan” (Nogrady 2017). Other analysts are excited
that exporting renewable energy could replace Australia’s current reliance
on exporting fossil fuels. “Here’s an exciting thought: Australia has the
potential to be one of the largest generators and exporters of renewable energy in the world. We could be a renewable energy superpower”
(Rawson 2017). Such possibilities will be open to any country that has
access to renewable energy resources.
key technology is the furthest from commercialization, and thus has been
left to the third phase of the Road Map.
The industry must also improve its transport technology. Japan’s
efforts have been ongoing for more than 30 years, dating back to 1993,
when the WE-NET program selected liquid hydrogen (LH2) as the best
way to transport hydrogen (Nogrady 2017; Akaishi 2007; Koguchi 2010;
Hirai 1997; Chiba et al. 1998). 29 Since then Japanese researchers and
industry have been investigating a wide range of possible technologies and
have begun work on building a hydrogen transportation infrastructure
(Karagiannopoulos et al. 2017; Grandum 2016, pp. 29–30; Nishimura
2015, pp. 16, 22 and 27). 30 The jury is still out as to which of these
technologies will emerge as the best for transporting hydrogen, so at the
moment the Road Map only provides funding for a wide range of R&D
and pilot projects.
Although the technical obstacles to Japan’s hydrogen society still seem
daunting, potential producers of hydrogen are beginning to eye the huge
market opportunity it would represent. This is especially true for countries that have ample renewable energy resources. Norway, for example,
may be able to turn energy from its hydroelectric resources and wind
power into hydrogen (Karagiannopoulos et al. 2017). Further, hydrogen
can be produced anywhere in the world, including even the most remote
or underdeveloped of areas. All that would be needed would be ample
sunshine or wind (Lazarou and Makridis 2017, p. 3). 31 As one example,
a remote and undeveloped area like Australia’s Pilbara “is considered the
world’s best solar resource in terms of the intensity of the sunlight and
the fact that it’s never cloudy. That means you can potentially set up a
big solar farm there (to create hydrogen) … then you need to get that
renewable energy to Japan” (Nogrady 2017). Other analysts are excited
that exporting renewable energy could replace Australia’s current reliance
on exporting fossil fuels. “Here’s an exciting thought: Australia has the
potential to be one of the largest generators and exporters of renewable energy in the world. We could be a renewable energy superpower”
(Rawson 2017). Such possibilities will be open to any country that has
access to renewable energy resources.