At Australia’s University of Newcastle hydrogen production starts with water extracted from the atmosphere and electrolysis powered by free energy from the sun; sucking CO2 from the air is the next step to filling Angus Taylor’s beloved gas infrastructure with green methane that can bring spuds to the boil and power the economy while helping to flatten the nation’s emissions curve.

A renewable-hydrogen ecosystem is forming around a remarkable innovation pioneered by researchers at the University of Newcastle that plucks pure water from the atmosphere: the Newcastle team is using that water to produce low-cost green hydrogen, the hydrogen is in turn fuelling a green methane project, and is also forming part of a hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicle demonstration. Plus the expertise developed at the University’s Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER) will feed into the future hydrogen workforce via leadership roles in the $4.9 million Australian Research Council Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy, based at the University of New South Wales.