"The idea that the Federal and state governments aren’t doing enough to plan for energy transition and promote the hydrogen economy, is very much a misconception. 

In fact, compared to other countries with abundant renewable resources, Australia has robust and coordinated hydrogen initiatives and investments. 

Hydrogen is one of five priority low-emission technologies that have been identified under the Australian Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap. These technologies are anticipated to lead to widespread job creation and economic benefits.

A recent Deloitte report predicted the hydrogen economy could increase Australia’s GDP by between $11 billion and $26 billion by 2050 and create between 7600 and 16,900 jobs. 

Of course, there would also be a lot of indirect jobs created, so estimating the net benefit to the wider economy is a little difficult. In NSW, for example, the hydrogen economy is expected to generate 10,000 jobs. 

Through this Technology Investment Roadmap, the Federal Government has set economic stretch goals for priority technologies and is investing in achieving them. For hydrogen, its goal is to achieve production at under two Australian dollars per kilogram (or ‘H2 under 2’), the point where hydrogen starts to become competitive with conventional fuels."