The Hydrogen Story

In the future, hydrogen will join electricity as an important energy carrier, since it can be made safely from renewable energy sources and is virtually non-polluting. It will also be used as a fuel for ‘zero-emissions’ vehicles, to heat homes and offices, to produce electricity, and to fuel aircraft.

Hydrogen energy can be stored as a gas and even delivered through existing natural gas pipelines. When converted to a liquid or another suitable material, hydrogen can also be exported overseas, effectively making it a tradable energy commodity.

Like the rest of the world, the main use of hydrogen in Australia is as a raw material for industrial processes. Renewable hydrogen use in Australia would help us to reduce emissions in those high-temperature industries as well as some transport sectors.

Several scientific and government reports have also found that hydrogen produced in Australia could be sold to the world. It is predicted global demand for hydrogen exported from Australia could be over three million tonnes each year by 2040, which could be worth up to $10 billion each year to the economy by that time.

Long Pipes continues investigations into the Fluid Highway® for transporting Hydrogen.

The two traditional pipe materials proposed for conveying hydrogen gas are steel and polyethylene. Steel pipes are prone to hydrogen embrittlement and are generally not suitable for conveying hydrogen gas except when blended with natural gas at 5%-15% hydrogen by volume. Polyethylene pipes have a significant leakage of hydrogen through the pipe wall and are also generally limited in the pipeline operating pressure.

The Fluid Highway® internal liner can be designed with plastics that have a high level of resistance to gas leakage. The gas losses are minimal and there is a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to polyethylene pipe. In addition, the Fluid Highway® can be designed to meet higher operating pressures by increasing the number of fibreglass layers.

Long Pipes is working with Government and private industry to develop the Fluid Highway® for transporting Hydrogen.