Japan's ambassador to Australia says a supply and demand relationship between the pacific neighbours has the potential to make hydrogen energy a mainstay of the global power supply.
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On his second visit to Tasmania in as many years, ambassador Shingo Yamagami said Australia's investment in the emerging energy resource, coupled with Japan's target of reaching 10 per cent hydrogen power by 2050, could solidify hydrogen as a key resource in the global energy market.
Speaking in Launceston, Mr Yamagami said he believed hydrogen energy was the future, with his country's decision to increase its reliance on the resource by 2050 an indication of its commitment.
"I happen to believe hydrogen is the future, I think in that regard Japanese businesses are ahead of realising the importance of hydrogen in the future," he said.
"That's quite an ambitious goal, but that shows our determination to allocate the resources to hydrogen."
Over the past two years, the Australian federal government has increased its activity in the hydrogen sector, showing it's intent to develop an industry for both domestic use and export by 2030.
The initiative has been backed by a $1.4 billion nationwide investment, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, just last week announcing $140 million had been allocated for two hydrogen hubs to be developed in Western Australia as part of the government's plan to develop the industry.
Mr Yamagami said like liquified natural gas, Australia and Japan were well placed to turn hydrogen into a practical energy solution.
"When liquefied natural gas came into the space, not many people thought it was serious, but eventually through Australia-Japan cooperation, we've made it very reliable and practical, and hopefully we can do it with hydrogen," he said.
Japan's expansion into the hydrogen market is already paying dividends for Australia's investment in the resource, with a site in Victoria exporting liquid hydrogen directly to Kobe.
While green hydrogen - which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen - has greater environmental benefits than blue hydrogen - which separates natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide - Mr Yamagami said as a burgeoning resource, both processes had value.
"I think the people tend to focus on green hydrogen, it's alright when we can go directly to green hydrogen, but we are thinking more realistically," he said.
"We believe both green hydrogen and blue hydrogen are two wheels of the one car, so we are pursuing these two objectives.
"Now is the stage of exploring various possibilities, and eventually we will come up with economic value, sustainable and commercially viable methods of producing and shipping hydrogen."
Closer to home, the federal government is considering a submission put forward by the state government to fund part of a $464 million regional grants program, expected to accelerate the creation of a green "hydrogen hub" at Bell Bay in the state's North.
While hydrogen has been identified as a significant part of the Australian trade relationship, Mr Yamagami said Tasmanian wine and agricultural produce were also a priority for the Japanese market.
On his previous trip to Tasmania, Mr Yamagami visited a feedlot that was rearing 10,000 head of cattle that would eventually find their way into Japanese supermarkets, with the ambassador explaining Japan was hungry for Tasmanian produce.
"They are operating one of the biggest feedlots just in the South, they are keeping around 10,000, it's one of the biggest feedlots and they are selling their beef as Tasmanian beef - not Aussie beef," he said.
He said the desire for Australian produce was strengthened by the free trade agreement between the two countries which had seen Australia's beef market share in Japan rise above US and Canadian imports.
"With our free trade agreement, our trade has already significantly increased," he said.
"One example is Australian beef, it's part of the largest market share in the Japanese market, even surpassing the market share of American beef."
Tasmania wine was also identified as a burgeoning market in Japan, but Mr Yamagami said the exporters had not yet tapped the Asian market.
"Unfortunately Australian wine exporters are not seriously looking at the Japanese market," he said "So, there is a great potential for Australian wine to be exported to the Japanese market.
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