An Australian mining magnate wants to save the planet with green hydrogen

Andrew Forrest is switching from iron ore to producing hydrogen fuel. What are his motives, asks Evan Halper, profit, or conscience?

Andrew Forrest tours the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (The Washington Post by Chet Strange)

The Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest expresses few regrets about his iron ore mining company and its partners, having pumped millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or the bitter legal conflicts with Aboriginal officials over ecological destruction allegedly committed by his firm, Fortescue Metals Group. He prefers the label “heavy industrialist.” Don’t call him a “greenie.”

Yet as the world reaches an energy inflexion point, Forrest is now a point man for audacious climate action, with his sights set on the United States. He is betting the future of his $34bn company on a plunge into “green hydrogen,” a superfuel theoretically capable of powering jet planes, large machines and even electricity plants without any carbon footprint.

The headwinds are fierce. Hydrogen gas is made by separating water molecules, and producing it typically requires massive amounts of climate-unfriendly natural gas. So far, no one has been able to make affordable hydrogen fuel produced entirely with renewable sources of energy. It requires too much wind or solar power to be practical for mass production. Scientists are racing to change that, with Forrest placing a huge wager on their success in bringing green hydrogen to market quickly.