Last night, while most Australians slept, Prime Minister Scott Morrison helped shine the spotlight on ASX hydrogen shares. He told the Leaders Summit on Climate about Australia's plans to create a booming hydrogen industry. He said:
In Australia our ambition is to produce the cheapest clean hydrogen in the world, at $2 per kilogram Australian…
Mr President, in the United States you have the Silicon Valley. Here in Australia we are creating our own 'Hydrogen Valleys'.
It seems the federal government is working to make hydrogen power the backbone of our emissions reduction strategy. Luckily, some Australian companies are already on it.
Here are 3 ASX-listed companies working towards producing sustainable hydrogen.
Hazer Group Ltd (ASX: HZR)
This company relies on its own "Hazer Process", converting methane into hydrogen using iron ore as the process' catalyst. Using this method, Hazer produces two products – hydrogen and synthetic graphite.
This works because methane is made up of around 75% carbon and 25% hydrogen, and graphite is a carbon product. By removing the hydrogen and securing the carbon, Hazer can produce synthetic graphite for the lithium-ion battery industry.
At Friday's close, the Hazer share price was trading at $1.22, up 54% year to date.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $177 million, with approximately 145 million shares outstanding.
Provence Resources Ltd (ASX: PRL)
Provence Resources has its finger in many a pie, and one of those is hydrogen energy.
It's currently working towards producing hydrogen in Western Australia. The company says it's focused on an abundance of renewable electricity possibilities, with options including wind, solar and geothermal. Provence is looking to tap into the potential of these to power its electrolysis process – needed to separate hydrogen from other substances – with renewable energy.
The company has recently partnered with French company Total Eren to begin a feasibility study on the project.
The Provence Resources share price closed this week trading at 20 cents, up a whopping 1,920% year to date.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $186 million, with approximately 891 million shares outstanding.
Pure Hydrogen Corporation Ltd (ASX: PH2)
Pure Hydrogen is a relatively new player in the game. It's the result of a merger between former ASX companies Strata-X Energy Ltd and Real Energy Corporation. The two companies merged earlier this year and became Pure Hydrogen.
The company is currently progressing five hydrogen projects – one in Queensland with another four operating through a joint venture, planned to be located on the east coast of Australia.
Pure Hydrogen has a joint venture with Synergen Group that will see it producing hydrogen from methane using Synergen's modular plant technology.
Synergen's module plants are about the size of a shipping container and portable. It says the technology is a world first and could be a catalyst for the industry.
The Pure Hydrogen share price ended Friday's session at 26 cents, having gained around 180% year to date. It should be noted, however, that these gains were predominantly achieved under the company's prior trading name, Strata-X Energy. Since the newly merged Pure Hydrogen began trading on 17 March, the company has executed a capital raise and seen its shares fall by around 20%.
Pure Hydrogen has a market capitalisation of around $72 million, with approximately 317 million shares outstanding.
