Griffith warns against “drinking the Kool-Aid” on renewable hydrogen

Engineer and “electrify everything” advocate Saul Griffith has warned against squandering precious time and money in the fight against climate change by chasing unrealistic goals for renewable hydrogen – including as fuel for heavy transport and in the production of green steel.

Griffith argues that while solar and wind generated hydrogen used to produce green ammonia is a “great idea” and “$90-to-$100 billion export opportunity” for Australia, other plans for renewable hydrogen are not viable – not yet, anyway.

“Green hydrogen is not going to temper any domestic emissions this decade,” the MIT-educated Griffith told energy and climate summit sponsored by the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday.

“I can’t say it harshly enough,” he said. “We have drunk the Kool-Aid and we’re about to squander a decade.”

The comments have been widely interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on iron ore billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forest, whose Fortescue Future Industries is betting billions of dollars on renewable hydrogen to decarbonise heavy industry and become a new staple export for Australia.

Forrest and his team have been touring the world striking agreements with customers and suppliers, including a massive MoU with Germany’s E.ON for five million tonnes of green hydrogen, and unveiled numerous plans in Australia for manufacturing of electrolysers, renewable energy production and industrial deals.

In August, Forrest reiterated his plans to deliver 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030, even though the company is yet to fill in the details of how exactly that will be done.

Reportedly, Griffith had some choice words about such “fake contracts” at the summit, but he also noted that he, himself, has as much to gain as anyone if renewable hydrogen comes through with the goods.

“If hydrogen works I will make more money than all of you because I built the hydrogen tanks that all of the world’s auto-makers have licensed,” he told the summit.

But his experiences, including as a world leader in hydrogen-storage technology research and development, have not left him hopeful.

“I feel qualified to say a lot about hydrogen. I understand the physics and thermodynamics,” Griffith said.

“I have shot large-calibre bullets into hydrogen tanks in the desert. I have watched them explode. I have owned two hydrogen cars. It was the scariest, most horrible experience of my life.”

Griffith also told the conference that his calculations had found Fortescue’s hydrogen plans would produce electricity between four and six times’ more expensive than energy straight from the renewable source itself.

For Griffith, the main game should be shifting the grid to renewable energy and powering everything – houses, businesses, cars – with green electricity.

“I’m concerned we missed the thing we have to do right now. We missed the thing that is going to win the game, which is electrification,” he told the summit.

“You might think, and there are cynical and technically incorrect arguments in the news, including from the sponsor of this conference, that this stuff doesn’t make a difference.

“This stuff makes a big f—ing difference. It’s 42 per cent of domestic emissions, and if you include the commercial sector, it’s about 70 per cent. We’ve got to get on with it.”