Industry body created to support hydrogen expansion in Australia
Toyota, Hyundai among founding members of Hydrogen Mobility Australia
Hydrogen Mobility Australia (HMA) has been founded, aimed at advocating for the burgeoning local hydrogen industry.
It's made up of automakers, energy companies and infrastructure providers including Toyota Australia, Hyundai Australia, BP Australia and Caltex Australia.
The body will be involved in advocacy, research, education and industry engagement programs, all designed to highlight the benefits of widespread hydrogen adoption. Eventually, the body hopes to facilitate a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
"Toyota's foundation membership of HMA aligns with our global drive to promote sustainable mobility and to play a leading role in the transition to widespread low carbon energy use," said Mike Rausa, vice-president for product and corporate operations at Toyota Australia.
"Hydrogen has the potential to play a pivotal role in the future because it can be used to store and transport energy from wind, solar and other renewable sources to power many things, including vehicles. The sooner we move to a zero emissions society, the better."
It's no surprise to see Toyota throw its considerable weight behind this initiative, given its commitment to hydrogen power with cars like the Mirai. Hyundai has also made a significant investment in the technology, having announced its fuel-cell powered Nexo earlier this year, so its inclusion also makes sense.
Bill Thomas, local communications boss for Hyundai, said "it's great to have an industry body to promote the technology and develop hydrogen infrastructure around the country".
Behyad Jafari, CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, said the body is "very excited" to see more national support for alternative fuels.
"It's very much about the future vs the past," he said, killing any notion of rivalry between electric and hydrogen advocates. Instead, Jafari says it's time for Australia to "catch up to the rest of the world" when it comes to non-internal combustion cars.
Ian Mutton, chairman of HMA, will work with Claire Johnson, CEO, to establish the national body. Founding members include BP, Caltex, BOC, CNH Industrial, Coregas, ITM Power, Siemens and Viva Energy Australia.
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