July 2021 - Adveco Ltd.

With emissions difficult to fully eliminate from certain parts of the economy, most experts agree that green Hydrogen is essential to meeting the goals of Net Zero by 2050. Urging the Government to publish its Hydrogen Strategy sooner rather than later, it has confirmed support of the crossover in a domestic setting but is yet to announce a defined strategy for the commercial industries. So, will the UK turn to Hydrogen use everywhere?

What are Blue and Green Hydrogen?

Blue Hydrogen:

is when natural gas is split into hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO₂) with the use of either Auto Thermal Reforming (ATR) or Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). The CO₂ is captured and then stored, reducing emissions into the atmosphere reducing environmental impacts on the planet.

Green Hydrogen:

Is hydrogen fuel that is created with the use of renewable energy in place of fossil fuels. It has potential for manufacturing, transportation and much more, with clean power and water the only by-product.

The advantages of switching to Blue and Green Hydrogen

Hydrogen has many advantages as it is abundant and supply is near limitless. It can be used on site of production and/or hydrogen is capable of being transported elsewhere if required. The environmental advantages of hydrogen are it contains almost three times the energy of fossil fuel use, therefore less will be needed to do the equivalent work.

Another advantage is hydrogen, unlike current methods, can be produced from excess renewable energies, and wherever there is water and electricity to generate more electricity or heat, for longer periods of time, in much larger quantities.

The disadvantages of switching to Blue and Green Hydrogen

Highly flammable in concentration and light compared to other fuels, as with other commonly used fuels, such as natural gas and propane, Hydrogen needs to be handled with caution. Hydrogen’s lightness does mean that it will disperse quickly into the atmosphere should there be a leak, reducing the danger of ignition. This is particularly important if hydrogen is to be transported via the existing gas infrastructure. Hydrogen moves differently from natural gas and is more likely to escape from older pipework than natural gas, so there will be concerns over the safety of a network seen to be leaking hydrogen.

In addition, the capturing process will increase the methane and propane burden so hydrogen production may not be as environmentally friendly as many may be lead to believe as

Environmentalists opposing the switch to Hydrogen

Environmentalists have openly been warning the Government to ignore the “hype” of Hydrogen to provide heat within the UK. As the Government pushes for its’ Net Zero goal, proposed plans suggest for new natural gas boilers (domestic) to be phased out in the foreseeable future and replaced with Hydrogen-ready alternatives. But environmentalists are pushing for electrical heat pumps to be endorsed over Hydrogen, which they believe is not environmentally benign.

Hydrogen for commercial use

With around half of the UK’s energy consumption being used for heating and contributing towards a third of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing carbon from the heating and hot water industry supply is a key issue for the UK to meet the plans set out for Net Zero by 2050.

Hydrogen has seen lots of traction over the years as a replacement for fossil-based gasses, converting the existing gas infrastructure to be used with Hydrogen low carbon alternatives in the UK.

One of the biggest difficulties to overcome with the crossover to Hydrogen will be the sheer scale of installation of the new appliances within current buildings. However, there are clear advantages of using existing familiar infrastructure, reducing the need for extensive remedial works that would be seen with an electric-only alternative. Other than the boiler/water heater replacement, pipework, tanks, and heating emitters such as radiators would remain unchanged. This helps avoid major issues caused by the limitations of existing space and accessibility.

Our take…

What is clear, is that hydrogen is not going to be the holy grail of zero-carbon heating for commercial projects. The simple truth is that it would be currently impractical to switch the gas grid to 100% hydrogen for zero-carbon heat, despite the existence of the extensive natural gas grid in the UK.

Producing bulk hydrogen from renewable electricity is also still expensive, and any produced by ‘surplus’ renewable electricity is not expected to meet the scale of demand. The production of low carbon hydrogen at scale will rely on using imported natural gas and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to offer a cost-effective route to produce lower volumes of hydrogen. Even when using CCS, it is important to realise hydrogen from fossil fuels will not be zero-carbon.

But, in terms of cost-effectively reducing emissions from energy use to a very low level by 2050, producing hydrogen via a low carbon route and storing it at scale makes it a potentially valuable complement to electrification.

With the practical provision of Hydrogen still some years away for the majority of the UK, Adveco, with its’ broad experience in gas and electric water heating, plus low carbon and renewable alternatives is perfectly placed to consult on short-, mid- and long-term options for your commercial projects, whether new build or refurbishment.

Due this Autumn, and expected to set precedence at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this October/November 2021, the government’s net zero strategy continues to attract criticism. Last November, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a wide-ranging plan with ten key deliverables to drive what he described as “Our green industrial revolution.” This was to be supported by a £4bn investment which was both celebrated, but also met with concern that this would simply not be enough of an investment.

Whilst the commercial sector has clamoured for better defined objectives and meaningful inducement to achieve the increasingly aggressive timetable, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) says climate leadership is being undermined by inadequate policies and poor implementation.

Set up under the 2008 Climate Change Act to independently advise the UK government on how to deal with global warming, this latest accusation is damning. The CCC says that, at current progress, only 20% of the UK’s ambitions up to 2035 will be achieved.

Previous carbon budgets set by the government were met through ‘easy wins’ such as shutting down coal-fired power stations. But as was predicted, with cuts in emissions at the scale demanded being far more complex to achieve future carbon budgets are no longer on track.

The CCC has directed its complaints at the lack of engagement being made with the public to make essential changes for protecting the climate. This is similarly mirrored across the commercial sector, here despite major organisations making the effort to engage in sustainability planning, government policy to date has failed to engage, instead focussing rhetoric upon domestic and large-scale industrial planning. This is baffling considering commercial buildings currently generate up to 40% of the nation’s carbon emissions from heating.

Recommendations for Sustainable Heating & Power

The CCC’s recommendations concerning heating and power likewise lean toward domestic use, wanting to see the curtailment of gas boilers by 2035 in new build properties, with a conversion to heat pumps. They make clear this process requires subsidising of installations costs to succeed. Heat pumps are simple to install in a new build but become complex with higher capital investment required when dealing with refurbishing properties with an existing gas system. This is exacerbated by scale and high-temperature demands for DHW in commercial properties. If this process of change is to happen in any meaningful way considerable subsidies need to be put in place to drive the replacement of ageing, “dirty” systems that could conceivably continue to operate for a decade or more under normal servicing processes. As the CCC states, this requires better engagement to induce change.

The CCC also wants to see taxes taken off clean electricity – though the government currently lacks policies on these issues and others, including waste and low-carbon heat networks. It’s a call echoed by Andy Ford, Professor of Building Systems Engineering at London South Bank University (LBSU), who has stated that, “Massive cultural changes do not happen without stimulus.” Reforming energy costs and subsidies is one example of the wholesale changes needed to begin making progress on the mass adoption of cleaner technologies to decarbonise heating.

The objective of achieving near-zero emissions in the UK by 2050, with a 78% cut in emissions by 2035, is to be embraced, but “Almost all things that should have happened have either been delayed or not hit the mark,” said committee chairman Lord Deben.

Whilst the government response that it will “Set out more of the very policies the Climate Change Committee is calling for as we redouble our efforts,” is encouraging, there is a recognised delay in Whitehall relating to decarbonisation initiatives. These include the Environment Bill, the transport decarbonisation plan and a net zero aviation strategy, which are likely to take precedence over the commercial built environment. Critically for the built environment, the government’s delayed heat and buildings strategy, which is expected to detail firmer commitments around the role of different low carbon technologies such as heat pumps, hydrogen boilers and district heat, is yet to be published. All this is leading to concerns over the “gulf between promises and actions” according to the CCC‘s chief executive Chris Stark. Following these comments by the CCC, Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has warned that the Government must do more to ensure the availability of practical low carbon heating options at a reasonable cost.

Increasing Risks from Climate Change

With the risks of climate change to the UK being even higher than were appreciated just five years ago, the clock is ticking if we are to avoid regular cycles of 40C temperatures highs. Critical then is the delayed Treasury net zero review, which will determine how much cash is invested into the projected zero-carbon economy. Recent statements that focus heavily on domestic resolutions, with little addressing of commercial, outside of schools and hospitals, remains a concern.

While the commercial sector awaits greater clarification, talk to Adveco about how you can bridge the gap from current gas-based systems by leveraging high-efficiency, low-carbon and renewable technologies to reduce operational costs and drive sustainability within your commercial hot water and heating systems.

Discover more about Adveco’s range services and air source heat pumps, solar thermal and heat recovery systems for commercial sustainability.

Call us on 01252 551 540 or use the contact form.

Will Hydrogen be the move we need towards Net Zero?