Australia and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding allowing for liquid hydrogen to be shipped in bulk for the first time as part of a sustainable energy trade project scheduled to commence as a pilot project in 2020.
The memorandum was signed on Wednesday by Australian Maritime Safety Authority representative Alex Shultz-Altmann and Japanese transport ministry representative Masumi Ito in Canberra.
The pilot project aims to develop a transportation system capable of securely shipping liquid hydrogen between the two nations. It follows a concerted effort from Japan to move toward more hydrogen-based energy systems following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture.