MEI Seminar #5: Green hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas

HYBRID EVENT

We invite you to the fifth seminar in our 2025 MEI Seminar Series, presented by Michael Bielinski, Head of Projects Asia Pacific at Siemens Energy.

This seminar will focus on green hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas. The presentation will take a holistic view of the drivers for green hydrogen, in particular the national goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and will explore the role that green hydrogen has to play in the future energy landscape in Australia in replacing natural gas as well as other fossil fuels.

The renewable electricity generation that is required to produce the green hydrogen will be analysed, as well as the various likely uses of green hydrogen, directly as a gas, and as various chemical derivatives.

The presentation will conclude with a review of the challenges facing the nation to produce the volumes of green hydrogen that will be required both for domestic energy supply and for export.

SPEAKER:

Michael Bielinski

Head of Projects Asia Pacific

Siemens Energy

Michael Bielinski has over 35 years' experience in the local and international power generation and transmission industries. He initially worked in operational power plants and then moved to plant design, project management, and business management. He has worked on projects in Australia, England, Germany, and throughout Asia-Pacific.

Siemens Energy is a global leader in the energy sector, providing advanced technologies to the power generation, oil & gas, industrial, hydrogen, and HV transmission markets.

Michael has BE (Hons) and BSc degrees from the University of New South Wales, and M.Eng.Sci from the University of Newcastle.

MODERATOR:

Professor Richard Sandberg

Interim Director, Melbourne Energy Institute
Program Leader - Power Generation and Transport, Melbourne Energy Institute
Chair of Computational Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering
The University of Melbourne

Richard's main interest is in high-fidelity simulation of turbulent flows in turbomachinery and aerospace applications in order to gain physical understanding of flow and noise mechanisms. He also uses the data to help assess and improve low-order models that can be employed in an industrial context, in particular by pursuing novel machine-learning approaches.

He received his PhD in 2004 in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Arizona and prior to joining the University of Melbourne, he was a Professor of Fluid Dynamics and Aeroacoustics in the Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics research group at the University of Southampton and headed the UK Turbulence Consortium (www.turbulence.ac.uk). He was awarded a veski innovation fellowship entitled: "Impacting Industry by enabling a step-change in simulation fidelity for flow and noise problems", was granted an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship for 2020-2024, and was elected Fellow of the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society in 2024.

DISCLAIMER:

The views and opinions expressed are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Melbourne Energy Institute and The University of Melbourne.

The Melbourne Energy Institute welcomes broad discussion. Please engage respectfully and considerately with all perspectives.