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Are the plans to introduce Hydrogen into the gas network put on hold?
Well firstly its important not to get sucked into media hype. We know this already from headlines stating Gas Boilers will be banned, which in fact is NOT TRUE.
Hydrogen has been pipped as an extremely viable way to help decarbonise the UK’s housing stock. It would mean the gas network infrastructure can be utilised and people need not undergo costly home insulation improvements in readiness of having a heat pump installed.
With heating giants such as Worcester Bosch and British Gas stating their range of hydrogen blend and hydrogen ready boilers are good to go – it all seems a bit confusing.
The Energy Secretary commented “There was a time when people thought you just have something that looks like a gas boiler and we’ll feed hydrogen into it.
“The problem with that is the hydrogen molecules are very small. You have to replace potentially quite a lot of piping.
“And of course, you’ve got to produce the green hydrogen to make that whole thing stack up, but the kind of volumes mean that the transition would be pretty slow.
“So I’m not sure that home heating will be all through hydrogen.”
Mr Shapps added: “I’m a big believer in hydrogen as a part of our energy mix in the future. And I think Britain should have a very big role in it. We’ll make sure we do have this hydrogen economy.”
Therefore if you take his comments within context you can see that he is really saying its not as easy as we might of first thought. Manufacturing a 100% hydrogen boiler is not the challenge it is adapting the current gas pipe network.
British Gas have reacted with Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, warning that ruling out hydrogen boilers for domestic use risks derails the push towards net zero and will push up bills.
Mr O’Shea said that “too many people are falling into the trap of thinking heat pumps are the only solution to decarbonise heat in homes”.
Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas
We firmly believe that the key to decarbonising the UK’s homes is through a variety of options which includes hydrogen. Of course hydrogen will not replace every single gas boiler and there should be a range of options available to the home owner. These options are typically dependant on the property type, practicality and of course probably the most important budget.
For now the government is still pressing ahead with hydrogen trials in other locations across the UK therefore we will await further updates.
If you have any further questions or would like to speak to a member of our friendly office team please call 01258 472132.
