Australia must seize ‘hydrogen tipping point’ or miss clean energy revolution, experts say

The deputy chief executive of Star Scientific, Matthew Hingerty, is back in Australia after recent visits to the US and Europe to scope out prospects for his firm's novel technologies to produce heat from hydrogen, for a range of industries eager to ditch fossil fuels.

Hingerty is among those in Australia's emerging green industries weighing up the opportunities - and threats - posed by the US government's giant $US369bn ($A550bn) support package for the sector and copy-cat policies in Europe and elsewhere.

"This great wad of money has surged [the US] to the forefront," he said. Still, "it's not going to be like we're going to up stumps and just move holus bolus to the States".

Major companies such as Fortescue Future Industries and Woodside Energy have recently talked up plans to invest more in the US, citing the extra spending as a lure.

Hingerty, however, cautions governments against bending to demands they seek to match the largesse offered abroad or risk condemning Australian firms to becoming also-rans in the global race to decarbonise.

He said the US Inflation Reduction Act - the vehicle that will underwrite everything from the production of new forms of batteries, to renewable energy and hydrogen - would certainly offer "icing on the cake" for some investors.

But "if a company is chasing government handouts and that's the sole reason for picking a country, you got to ask yourself a bit about that company", Hingerty said. Rather, governments create coherent strategies that accelerate demand for hydrogen.