Hydrogen Production from Geothermal Energy
Channel: GeoscienceAustralia
Date: 2022-05-05

The current clean hydrogen production is not cost competitive within the market to drive a successful hydrogen economy in Australia. For this reason, using geothermal energy with lower operating costs might be an economically favourable option for the clean hydrogen strategy in Australia. This presentation comprises several focus points corresponding to geothermal energy’s potential for hydrogen production in Australia. Different geothermal-based routes for hydrogen production are investigated to explore the possibility of producing clean hydrogen in the Australian geothermal context. Overseas endeavours in terms of low to moderate geothermal sources using organic ranking cycles (ORCs) are reviewed to identify current international practices. The benefits of using a hybrid energy system that combines geothermal energy with other renewable technologies such as solar energy to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of renewable hydrogen production, are investigated. Furthermore, geothermal energy extraction from oilfields by retrofitting oil and gas are reviewed to identify essential and influencing factors in this domain. This research brings novel insights to unlocking the potential of geothermal energy in contributing to future low-carbon energy systems.