Hydrogen has many technical difficulties to overcome to make it a viable low-carbon heating fuel, the researchers say.
Hydrogen is not suitable for use in home heating and is likely to remain so, despite the hopes of the UK government and the plumbing industry, a comprehensive review of scientific papers has concluded.
Hydrogen lobbyists are present at the Labor Party conference this week, sponsoring various events in Liverpool, and will be in abundance at the Conservative Party conference, which starts this weekend.
They hope to persuade the UK government to go ahead with a large-scale roll-out of hydrogen for domestic heating, as a replacement for the gas used to heat the vast majority of British homes. Proponents of hydrogen say it would save homes from having to replace gas boilers with heat pumps, the other main competitor to low-carbon home heating.
Studies on hydrogen for heating
The researchers reviewed 32 previous studies and concluded that it was unlikely to play a significant role in home heating, either as a full replacement for fossil fuel gas heating or as a blend with natural gas.
Jan Rosenow, Europe director of the Regulatory Assistance Project, an energy think tank and co-author of studying, he said there were many technical difficulties to overcome to make hydrogen a viable and inexpensive low-carbon heating fuel.
“Using hydrogen for heating might seem appealing at first. However, all independent research on this topic comes to the same conclusion: heating with hydrogen is much less efficient and more expensive than alternatives such as heat pumps, district heating and solar heating. thermal solar energy“, said.
The study, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Joule , is the third major blow in the past week for hydrogen advocates for home heating. Earlier this week, a separate study by analyst firm Cornwall Insight concluded that hydrogen would be nearly twice as expensive for home heating as using just gas. Last week, The Guardian revealed problems with a hydrogen pilot project in Scotland.
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Rosenow said hydrogen was not the alternative to heat pumps that lobbyists claimed. “For policymakers, hydrogen for heating sounds attractive because it looks easy: just replace fossil gas with no impact on homes. The reality is that significant technical modifications are needed, including plumbing in homes, and it will cost people a lot of money to stay warm.”
Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and president of Liebreich Associates, said: “This is a timely paper showing that no serious analysis has hydrogen playing more than a marginal role in the future of space heating. We need Europe’s heating systems to stop using natural gas, and we must do so without delay. It’s time to stop the fight: the judges are unanimous and the winners are district heating, heat pumps and electrification.”
There are many other uses for hydrogen as a fuel, for example in the decarbonization of heavy industry and shipping. For these industries to be genuinely low-carbon, the hydrogen used will need to be generated using renewable energy, rather than coming from fossil fuels, as some hydrogens do today.
Some in the energy sector have a different opinion
James Earl, director of gas at the UK Energy Networks Association, which represents UK energy operators, told The Guardian: “No heating system will get us to the UK’s net zero emissions targets. as a one-stop approach to decarbonisation. heating will not work on the UK’s diverse customer base. We need to consider hydrogen, electrification and other technologies as part of the mix.”
He added: “While hydrogen is expensive today, its cost is falling rapidly and is expected to drop to a cost similar to that of natural gas by 2030, if the cost of carbon emissions is fully recognized. Customers need choice and access to a variety of technologies, including heat pumps, hydrogen boilers, district heating and hybrid heating systems, if we are to deliver a sustainable energy system for the future.”
By Fiona Harvey. Article in English