Ammonia exports key to renewable energy movement in Australian elections

NEWS BRIEF: Ammonia energy has entered the federal election campaign discourse in Australia, thanks to a grassroots movement that calls itself Fair Dinkum Power. The movement “aims to make climate change a battleground issue in the election campaign,” and its manifesto calls for using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier to export clean energy.

According to a Bloomberg article, the movement is backed by Mike Cannon-Brookes, the billionaire founder of technology firm Atlassian Corp., which recently pledged to consume 100% renewable power by 2025. The movement is so named because it wants to reclaim the term ‘fair dinkum’ from the “coal-loving Prime Minister Scott Morrison.” The Australian election takes place next month, on May 18.

The movement’s manifesto rests on four domestic assumptions: “our power can be clean, cheap, reliable and Australian.” It extends this vision to a fifth international assumption.

We are driven by a common vision to have Australia be powered by 200% renewable energy.

Beyond 100%, we have a massive economic opportunity in this transition … Exporting our massive renewable resources to the world (by undersea cables, via ammonia or hydrogen or finished goods) has the potential to exceed our existing coal and gas exports.
Fair Dinkum Power website, accessed April 2019

RELATED LINKS: In our 2018 Annual Review, we published an article summarizing the increasingly mainstream acceptance of ammonia as a clean energy export: Great Strides in NH3 Commitment and Progress in Australia. You can also browse our full coverage of ammonia energy in Australia.

SOURCES:
Fair Dinkum Power website, accessed April 2019.
Bloomberg, Tech Billionaire Makes Clean Energy Push in Australia, 04/09/2018.