Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for this motion. Hydrogen could play an important role in the global transition to clean, renewable energy, and I welcome the chance to speak about this transition today. With the release of the National Hydrogen Strategy and the announcement of a new fund for hydrogen projects, there are lots of questions remaining about how we make the most of the opportunities that we have.

It's critically important, though, that our developing hydrogen industry doesn't rely on burning more gas and coal. It makes no sense to be burning brown coal to create hydrogen to export overseas. But that's what's happening in a project in the La Trobe Valley, with the Commonwealth giving $50 million to burn 160 tonnes of brown coal to create three tonnes of hydrogen. Thirty times more carbon dioxide than hydrogen will be produced and then shipped overseas. In doing so, we commit to capital infrastructure that cannot easily be converted to renewable-powered electrolysis. Rightly, people are concerned that these investments will lock us in to continual use of fossil fuels when we have better alternatives becoming available.

Across the world, there are projects demonstrating that green hydrogen can be used to sustainably power industry, homes and vehicles. If Australia truly is to be a leader in hydrogen production, we need to invest in renewable energy powered electrolysis. Yet, to date, there has not been enough investment in this sector. I welcome the new investment into hydrogen projects but lend my voice to those who say that green hydrogen projects must be the priority. If we get this right, our renewable energy sector will continue to drive down the cost of electrolysis and create cheaper hydrogen over time.

Luckily, we have a huge opportunity right now to invest in renewable energy that can be used to power our developing hydrogen industry and meet our own current domestic needs. I'm proud to be representing multiple communities across Indi who are leading the way on renewable energy projects. A mix of large-scale renewable energy farms, community projects and better storage are all part of Indi's energy future. We know this because over years our community and neighbouring regions have worked together on the Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap.

The Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap has recently shown the huge capacity of towns in our region. We produce 1.5 million tonnes of biomass every year that could generate electricity with a carbon-neutral biogas burner. The Barnawartha biodiesel plant will produce 50 million litres of biodiesel a year from tallow and vegetable oil. Across Indi people are installing rooftop solar and solar hot water, making the most of the clear sunny days. The Euroa Environment Group is behind a $6 million grassroots project to install 589 kilowatts of new solar photovoltaic panels and up to 400 kilowatts of new batteries. The town of Yackandandah is working to be totally renewable by 2022, with a minigrid supported by these community groups and the state government that will reduce energy prices and emissions.

We have several large-scale solar projects across the region, including the new solar farm in Winton, near Benalla, which is soon to be providing energy to 50,000 homes. There are other sites in the region that have great potential for solar and could be connected to existing transmission lines. Pumped hydro could also work for our communities living on Indi's many rivers and mountains. Across north-east Victoria, a community energy retailer, Indigo Power, has been hard at work drawing together the skills and experience to support energy transition. We have leaders in Euroa, Benalla, Alexandra, Mansfield, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Wangaratta, Wodonga, Tallangatta, Rutherglen and Bright.

So I want to encourage the development of green hydrogen as part of Australia's and Indi's renewable energy transition. This opportunity to power our communities with this clean and renewable energy resource is one that must take us to the future and not lock us in the past.

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