Fortescue chair sees limitless future for hydrogen fuel cell technology

Andrew Forrest views H2 as central to taking on climate change and maintaining current standard of living. Fortescue Metals Group (ASX stock symbol FMG) chairperson Andrew Forrest sees hydrogen fuel cell technology as a way to provide a limitless future for maintaining the high standard of living of the planet. Forrest shared this perspective while speaking at a recent global online symposium. “Our little planet’s cooking, the world’s impatient and there’s any amount of capital, provided your projects are great,” stated Forrest at the symposium while talking with Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power…

Andrew Forrest views H2 as central to taking on climate change and maintaining current standard of living.

Fortescue Metals Group (ASX stock symbol FMG) chairperson Andrew Forrest sees hydrogen fuel cell technology as a way to provide a limitless future for maintaining the high standard of living of the planet.

Forrest shared this perspective while speaking at a recent global online symposium.

“Our little planet’s cooking, the world’s impatient and there’s any amount of capital, provided your projects are great,” stated Forrest at the symposium while talking with Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power (NASDAQ stock symbol PLUG). According to Forrest, Fortescue Metals Group produces high carbon emissions, while being a heavy industry and heavy manufacturing company, calling it “like the thousands of others out there which cause global warming.” However, he added that this presents a meaningful opportunity to use alternatives such as hydrogen fuel cell technology to decarbonize the company and then the fossil fuel sector. “But we know how to do this. We’re going to produce green hydrogen, green ammonia, green electricity in proportion to them but, of course, ours won’t be polluting the planet,” added Forrest.

Forrest views green hydrogen fuel cell technology and clean ammonia as critical for the mining industry.

In fact, Forrest referred to H2 as “that miracle molecule.” He pointed out that, “We invented the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell haul truck in three and a half months. You can come over and drive it around. At the same time my team were inventing that truck and changing the drive engines of these huge trucks to hydrogen fuel cells, they were also putting green ammonia into a ship’s engine and green ammonia into our train engines and seeing them run successfully up to nearly 100% green ammonia.” Forrest explained that massive container ships and other operations that involve slow revolutions are ideal uses for green ammonia. They operate at between 60 and 100 revolutions per minute and the entire world could effectively switch to that alternative fuel. On the other hand, hydrogen fuel cell technology is what he feels is the option that will power vehicles such as trucks.