A cross-party committee of UK parliamentarians has drawn criticism from the hydrogen industry for largely overlooking the clean gas in a key review of low-carbon residential heating solutions to help the country meet its net-zero emissions targets.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said in a report published this week that the government is “not yet on track to deliver on its own targets and more urgent changes are required” to meet the challenge of decarbonising domestic heating. Decarbonising residential heating could require investment of about £250bn ($338bn), according to the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee.

“Hydrogen heating must be part of the UK’s ambitious plans to reach net zero – Jackson” Hydrogen UK

The report focused heavily on the deployment of electric heat pumps, with biomass boilers and district heating networks among the other technologies reviewed.

Trade association Hydrogen UK, the members of which include oil majors Shell and BP as well as UK utility Centrica and Norwegian energy firm Equinor, called on the committee to look more closely at hydrogen as a heating solution. “The conclusions within this report have overlooked a crucial part of successfully decarbonising heat,” says Hydrogen UK CEO Clare Jackson. “Our members are puzzled as to why the report did not review hydrogen, alongside heat pumps and networks, and we would welcome the opportunity to help the committee rectify this oversight.  Hydrogen heating must be part of the UK’s ambitious plans to reach net zero.”

Running domestic boilers on 100pc hydrogen, or blending hydrogen with natural gas, are among the low-carbon solutions under discussion in the industry, and the committee acknowledged hydrogen’s potential role.

“It is expected that heating in homes, in the UK, will be decarbonised by one of three low-carbon technologies: (i) heat pumps, (ii) hydrogen and/or (iii) heat networks, alongside the essential work of increasing energy efficiency through insulation upgrades,” the committee said in its report.

But government targets have so far focused on heat pumps. Its Heating and Buildings Strategy sets an ambition to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, up from the 35,000 a year. To date, 265,000 heat pumps have been installed—accounting for less than 1pc of the UK’s total heat capacity.

 

---

Author: Stuart Penson