Boutique Barossa Valley distillery h2gin has gone off grid, using renewable hydrogen to power its operations, according to Cosmos.
Owner-operator Brett Durand is dedicated to running the distillery using green energy and sustainable practices, despite having limited resources at his disposal.
“I’m the janitor. I’m the CEO. I’m everybody in between,” Durand told Cosmos.
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h2gin’s 75-litre still uses hydrogen as a heating source, with solar panels and batteries to power the cooling system.
The process of switching to the zero-emissions fuel was simple, Durand says.
“It was one phone call to say, ‘can you supply me with high-grade hydrogen?’ They said yes. So then I’d secured the supply of fuel that I needed to run a direct-fire still.”
The only downside is the corrosive nature of hydrogen, which over time will affect the stainless steel used in commercial stills.
“I needed to find some way to mitigate the problem,” Durand told Cosmos.
“I went looking for equipment that uses hydrogen as a fuel source. I found a hydrogen hotplate. And I adapted the existing off-the-shelf technology into a new purpose.
“It’s not me welding something in the back sheds, wondering if I’m gonna blow myself up. These were proven, off-the-shelf components. But I had to spend many nights and have many discussions researching how to fit them together.
“Just a few years ago, I thought I would have to build it all myself from scratch. Now, in another 12 months or so, people may be able to buy fit-for-purpose hydrogen systems off the shelf. They won’t need that fundamental engineering or construction skillset to get it all working.”
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Durand said he expected to see more commercial operations making the move to hydrogen.
“They could use solar panels and batteries instead of grid electricity. In five to 10 years, I imagine people could be making their own hydrogen using small-scaled catalysers and tank storage to run industrial or commercial ovens, for example.
“At some point soon, it will all be commercialised on a domestic scale. And suddenly, you’ll see your local bakery, pizza shop, restaurant—all those people on natural gas now—using green hydrogen. It’s just a matter of time.”
