We encourage you to personalise this email with your own concerns if you're comfortable to do so. You can write your own subject line (to make it harder for your email to be dumped in a junk folder) and alter the text of this email.
Individual emails have more impact than form emails and only you know what it is about this project that you oppose! You may want to mention that:
- Brown coal gasification is the most polluting method on Earth to make hydrogen. (Source: Brown Coal, Greenwash, The Australia Institute, 2022)
- Depsite industry claims that HESC will reduce emissions by 1.8 million tonnes (Mt) per year when at full production, the project is more likely to increase emissions by up to 3.8 Mt per year. (Source: Brown Coal, Greenwash, The Australia Institute, 2022)
- Both Australia and Japan are signatories to the Paris Agreement - Japan has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. (Source: Japan is accelerating efforts towards a carbon-neutral society, World Economic Forum, 2023)
- There is barely a business case for the HESC project. Once it reaches commercial scale, HESC risks being outvalued by green hydrogen produced from renewable energy which will be much lower cost. Add to this the high shipping costs and the delivery cost is likely to price the hydrogen produced and delivered out of the market. (Source: Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project viability remains uncertain in wake of Hydrogen Headstart scheme for green hydrogen, IEEFA, 2023)
- The Japanese Government has already committed to invest $2.35 billion on HESC.Tell them to invest this money in renewable energy in their own country rather than fossil energy in ours. (Source: Japan invests A$2.35bn in world’s first liquefied hydrogen supply chain, Global Australia, 2022)
- Hydrogen is dangerous, volatile and when it escapes bad things happen. When a trial shipment of hydrogen was undertaken in January 2022, some hydrogen escaped causing a deck fire on board the ship while it was at port in Hastings. This was recorded as a "serious incident" by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. (Source: Gas control equipment malfunction on board the gas tanker Suiso Frontier at Western Port, Hastings, Victoria on 25 January 2022, ATSB 2022)
We have provided linked sources for our references so you can read these reports yourself and add any comments that give you concerns!