Japan To Spend $1.6 Billion On Hydrogen Project In Australia

Japan will spend 220 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in Australia to produce liquid hydrogen from a type of coal.

The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project is a joint Japanese-Australian undertaking intended to produce plentiful and affordable fuel for Tokyo.

Its backers argue it will help reduce global emissions by producing "clean hydrogen," but researchers say that claim is premised on carbon capture technology that does not exist.

The HESC said the project has entered its commercial demonstration phase with money from Japan's Green Innovation Fund, which will be used to design and build facilities to liquefy and ship hydrogen from Australia's Victoria to Japan.

Eiichi Harada, CEO of the Japanese joint enterprise participating in the project said; "This is truly a watershed moment for our combined efforts to decarbonize global energy production.”

He acknowledged that the project aims to produce and liquefy hydrogen from a type of coal known as lignite.