New, Downloadable Thought Leadership Paper: Toward a Zero Carbon Future

Jul 23, 2020

Jacobs and Yarra Valley Water have partnered to deliver a thought leadership paper which asks ‘what if’ the growth of Australia’s hydrogen industry could be supported by co-located hydrogen production at wastewater treatment plants? Find out in our latest insights.

The broad utilisation of hydrogen has potential to play an important role in our drive toward a decarbonised, sustainable future. But in Australia, cost remains a major barrier to adoption.

Building on the suggestions made in our original thought leadership paper in 2019, our latest release uses Yarra Valley Water’s Aurora wastewater treatment plant as a case study to explore the relationship between both outputs from electrolysis - hydrogen and pure oxygen.

Specifically, the high-level analysis explores whether using oxygen in wastewater treatment processes could create enough savings for the wastewater treatment plant to effectively subsidise the cost of hydrogen and increase its commercial viability.

“Together with Yarra Valley Water, our paper starts a conversation about a possible future role for water utilities in Australia’s hydrogen industry that supports both decarbonisation and the commercial readiness of this emerging industry,” says Jacobs’ Senior Vice President, Global Operations Patrick Hill.

The findings from the case study indicated that implementing a type of treatment technology that allows for the efficient use of pure oxygen at the Aurora wastewater treatment plant could deliver net capital and operating cost savings to Yarra Valley Water compared to other types of treatment options tested.

At the same time, the guaranteed demand for oxygen at Aurora was instrumental in enabling the co-located hydrogen facility to be commercially viable while selling hydrogen within a competitive price range of AUD$2-6/kg.

Importantly, this result was achieved for ‘sustainable hydrogen’ — produced using recycled water and renewable energy — highlighting the opportunity for decarbonisation without compromising the nation’s drinking water resources.

“Embracing renewable energy is a significant focus for our business. It’s been fantastic to partner with Jacobs to explore how the water sector could play a bigger role in developing an effective and commercially viable hydrogen industry in Australia,” shares Yarra Valley Water Managing Director Pat McCafferty.

While the results are specific to the unique circumstances of the Aurora wastewater treatment plant and possible caveats are highlighted, the conservative nature of the analysis suggests the findings are promising and point towards a pivotal role for water utilities in accelerating the development of Australia’s hydrogen industry.

The implications for the water industry and the Australian Government’s hydrogen strategy present an exciting opportunity to enable more rapid decarbonisation of the world’s most emissions-intensive industries.

About Jacobs

At Jacobs, we’re challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world’s most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

About Yarra Valley Water

Yarra Valley Water is the largest of Melbourne’s three water corporations, servicing the north and east of Melbourne. Their service area covers 4,000 square kilometres and its network consists of around 20,000 kilometres of water and sewer mains.

 

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