“We’re a major consumer of energy so we’re always looking for an opportunity to lower our cost base and increase efficiency,” Ms Gaines told Fairfax Media. Loading She also said the investment gets Fortescue in at the ground floor of the new energy resource, exposing it to new markets. “We’re more than just a mining company.” The CSIRO said the miner was part of a wave of Australian companies looking to "reinvent themselves" to join the forecast hydrogen energy boom. Hydrogen is touted to replace petrol and gas as a fuel source.

“Today we’re seeing a ‘market pull’ from companies like Fortescue to reinvent themselves through deep science-driven innovation and follow the global market shift towards a low-emissions energy future, and in so doing create a whole new export market for our vast clean energy resources,” CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said. Earlier this year, the CSIRO launched a National Hydrogen Roadmap to provide a blueprint for the development of a hydrogen energy industry in Australia. Hydrogen has the potential to be a completely renewable source of energy. It is created by 'cracking' water, where an electric charge is sent through water to break it down into hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity can be supplied by wind or solar power. The latest investment in hydrogen technology follows Mr Forrest’s backing of the development of Australian Industrial Energy’s $300 million gas import terminal at Port Kembla, NSW. The gas import terminal could meet about 75 per cent of NSW's total gas demand as soon as 2020.

Fortescue is investing nearly $20 million to aid development of new hydrogen energy technology and research. Credit:John Nguyen One of the key focuses for Fortescue in its new CSIRO partnership is metal membrane technology, which allows hydrogen to be stored and transported in ammonia. By providing this storage capability hydrogen can be exported. Hydrogen is forecast to become a new multibillion-dollar export for Australia by 2040, driven by demand from four key countries - Japan, China, Singapore and South Korea. In April this year, the Australian federal and Victorian state governments partnered with a Japanese consortium to launch a $500 million project to turn Victorian brown coal into hydrogen to export to Japan.