According to new research from Imperial University, using hydrogen instead of natural gas for heating could help the UK achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050.
Currently, non-renewable natural gas derived from fossil fuels is used to provide half of Europe’s heat demand, and in the Netherlands and the UK, its national share is as high as 80%.
However, the UK has committed itself to developing a zero-carbon economy, and one way to achieve this could be to switch natural gas to hydrogen.
Hydrogen has long been considered an environmentally friendly alternative to natural gas. It only produces water when it is consumed and can be distributed through existing infrastructure such as pipelines with minimal adjustments.
However, little is known about the various requirements of this transition, including its cost.
A new study from Imperial College London has for the first time provided a comprehensive assessment of how the UK can transition its national heating network from natural gas to hydrogen.
An article published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science provides a detailed roadmap outlining the what, where and when of this transition.
Studies have shown that switching from natural gas for heating could help the UK meet its 2050 targets, but hydrogen-based heating systems can cost up to three times the cost of natural gas to install and operate.
The key takeaway from this work is that although the transition to this type of heating is technically feasible today based on commercially available technologies, there is still an important role for the government as a market maker to enable this transition.
The researchers say the deployment of a national infrastructure can be accelerated using a cheaper but non-renewable form of hydrogen along with carbon capture and storage, while we develop cost-effective options using renewable hydrogen.
This form is produced from methane and biomass, which produce some greenhouse gases, but is cheaper than renewable hydrogen, which requires water separation using renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power.