Hopes for hydrogen heating after success of safety trial.
Homes could be heated partly by hydrogen after a successful trial of blending it with natural gas in the grid.
More than 650 homes in the village of Winlaton near Newcastle upon Tyne last August became the first on the gas grid to receive hydrogen to burn in boilers, cookers, hobs and fires.
Northern Gas Networks (NGN), which is conducting the Ofgem-funded trial, said that results from the first seven months had shown that existing pipes could safely carry a blend of 20 per cent hydrogen and 80 per cent natural gas.
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Hydrogen molecules are far smaller than methane ones and more can escape through cracks in pipes but the trial has so far found no increase in leaks.
Tim Harwood, who oversees hydrogen projects at NGN, said that the blend could start to be rolled out to homes from next year, depending on availability of hydrogen.
He said that Humberside and Teesside were among the most likely places to get hydrogen in the grid because it is expected to be produced there in large volumes for energy-intensive industries to help cut their carbon emissions.
The government confirmed in the energy security strategy published that it would make a final decision on blending hydrogen with gas in the grid by the end of next year.
The strategy also included a doubling in the target for hydrogen production capacity to up to ten gigawatts by 2030, with at least half made from water via electrolysis powered by renewable or nuclear energy.
The vast majority of hydrogen available at present, including that used in the Winlaton trial, is made from gas and contributes to global warming.
Harwood said that rolling out hydrogen in the grid would require changes to billing as hydrogen contained only about a third of the energy of natural gas per cubic metre. Winlaton residents are being compensated for the increase in volume of gas used due to the blend.
Elizabeth Thompson, 58, who is one of the Winlaton residents receiving the hydrogen blend, said that she had noticed no difference and nor had any of the 75 elderly people she helps care for in a sheltered housing complex in the village.
Elizabeth Thompson, said:
A couple of them had thought that maybe [the hydrogen] could blow up but they are quite happy now.
âWeâve got to look to the future and whatâs needed for future generations and if itâs going to help the environment, we are over the moon with it.â
Dr Jan Rosenow, of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), an environmental think tank, said very high gas prices meant âgreen hydrogenâ made using renewable power was much closer than ever before to achieving cost parity with natural gas.
But he said it would be better to use available green hydrogen to decarbonise shipping and industries such as steel-making rather than home heating.
He said a 20 per cent hydrogen blend in the gas grid would cut carbon emissions by only 6-7 per cent because of hydrogenâs lower calorific value.
The RAP argues that electric heat pumps are a much more efficient way of decarbonising home heating than hydrogen.
The government plans to ban gas boilers from being installed in new homes built from 2025, and may ban all sales of gas boilers as early as 2035. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
A trial is due to start next year in Levenmouth, Fife, where about 300 homes will receive 100 per cent hydrogen and free new hydrogen boilers and cookers. Existing appliances are unable to use pure hydrogen.
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Hopes for hydrogen heating after success of safety trial, April 8, 2022
