Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (KHI) and other Japan-based firms said Tuesday that a pilot project to transport to Japan hydrogen produced from brown coal in Australia, using the world's first liquefied hydrogen tanker, had been proven technically feasible.

While hydrogen is widely touted as a fuel of the future with zero carbon emissions, it requires intensive energy input with renewables to produce "green hydrogen." Critics say emissions from hydrogen derived from brown coal are twice that of natural gas.

The 500 million Australian dollar (¥42 billion) project, led by KHI and backed by the governments of Japan and Australia in an effort to cut carbon emissions, was originally due to ship its first cargo a year ago, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power), which is in charge of producing the project's hydrogen, said it has tested using biomass with coal to help offset carbon dioxide emissions, while it aims to implement carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) in the future to make hydrogen that is completely free of carbon dioxide.

The KHI-built Suiso Frontier tanker eventually left Australia this year on Jan. 25 and arrived in Kobe a month later, the consortium said, adding that it had unloaded its cargo of hydrogen by the end of February.

"The demonstration covered from production and transport to loading and storage and proved that the technological foundations have been laid for the future use of hydrogen as an energy source in the same way as liquefied natural gas (LNG)," Motohiko Nishimura, KHI's executive officer, told reporters.

KHI aims to replicate its success as a major producer of LNG tankers with hydrogen, which is seen as critical by Japan to decarbonize industries that rely on coal, gas and oil and to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Australia aims to become a major exporter of the fuel.

"Equipment and facilities that can be operated safely are also a game-changing technology for the clean-energy business," KHI's Nishimura said.

In addition to KHI and J-Power, the consortium includes Shell's Japanese unit, Iwatani Corp., Marubeni Corp., Eneos Holdings Inc. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd.

The partners did not disclose a cost structure for the project, saying it was aimed at proving feasibility and safety. KHI said it aims to build a much larger hydrogen vessel in the mid-2020s, and to commercialize the business in the early 2030s.