Australia warned it could lose out to ‘huge and aggressive’ green hydrogen support in US and Middle East

Guy Debelle points to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and warns ‘I’m really concerned that we are missing out on a huge opportunity’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Australia’s natural renewable energy advantage in the race to create a green hydrogen industry is at risk of being overwhelmed by “huge and aggressive” policy support in the US and the Middle East, according to Fortescue Future Industries’ Guy Debelle.

Debelle, formerly FFI’s chief financial officer and now serving as a director, said the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act was mostly aimed at accelerating decarbonisation and was “one of the largest pieces of industrial policy we’ve ever seen”. Without a formal spending cap, it could eventually top $US1trillion ($1.44tn).