Perspective energy plan with hydrogen could be costlier
Campaigners claim that a prospective energy plan would force customers to pay for the development of a hydrogen economy. According to study, adding hydrogen to the gas heating systems in the UK might result in an increase in costs of approximately £200 for the typical home.
https://www.world-energy.org/article/31191.html
One of the main proposals made by Jane Toogood, the government’s advocate for hydrogen, in a report to ministers on how to manufacture and utilise hydrogen in the UK is the mixing of natural gas with roughly 20% hydrogen for use in residential heating systems.
However, a number of green activists, think tanks, and energy firms have written to the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, pleading with him to change his mind.
According to research by the think tank E3G, hydrogen blending might result in an annual rise in heating costs of roughly £192 for the typical family. The organisations caution that adding hydrogen to the gas supply would force users to use more gas since, when in this way, hydrogen offers less energy than fossil gas.
This letter was obtained by the Guardian. The organisations led by E3G wrote: “We disagree with the reporter’s advice to promote demand for hydrogen through blending and heating.”
This places the initial expenses of developing the hydrogen economy on the shoulders of consumers, who will pay the price of increased energy bills and costs of conversion – on top of the planned hydrogen fee spelled out int the energy bill.
A 20% mix will only drive up consumer prices since hydrogen is more expensive than the gas that is now used to heat the majority of UK houses. The incorrect strategy for creating industrial demand for hydrogen is to raise energy costs during a crisis in the cost of living.
The UK’s natural gas networks may begin to incorporate hydrogen as early as 2025, depending on the decision the government makes 2023. Ministers are also thinking about adding a fee on bills to pay for the development of hydrogen.
The government is urged to make the strategic decision to support blending of hydrogen into the gas network in 2023 and confirm a minded to position on suitable commercial arrangements to support blending according to the hydrogen champion report.
In order to assist the UK achieve its aim of having net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, hydrogen is being hailed as a potentially green fuel. however, activists are worried about two things.
Hydrogen is not green and less efficient
First, that hydrogen should be create using renewable enegy rather than as a waste product from the processing of fossil fuels. And second, that some of the applications being proposed for hydrogen are inappropriate.
Because some gas experts contend it might be utilised in existing boilers without the need for new infrastructure, the government is still taking into consideration hydrogen for use in home heating.
However, a growing body of research indicates that heat pumps and other alternatives might be more cost-effective than hydrogen for heating. Concerns concerning “hydro-ready boilers” are also expressed in the letter.
These are virtually the same as current gas boilers, and the government, as well as installers and suppliers, are drawn to them since they don’t require significant modifications to the UK’s current gas heating infrastructure.
However, because hydrogen produces less heat than natural gas and because there are likely to be few sources of green hydrogen experts doubt that hydrogen-ready boilers will ever be used for home heating.
Heat pumps are a better option, and using hydrogen for industrial processes where there are few or no green alternatives makes more sense.
Along with the E3G think tank, more than 20 groups, including Octopus Energy and the Kensa Group, a provider of heat pumps, Friends of the Earth, Fuel Poverty Action, and the UK Green Building Council, have signed the letter to Shapps.
A representative for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero stated: The government places high focus on consumer protection, which is why we have been paying for around half of the average household’s energy costs.
Whether to permit the further expansion of blending on the gas network will largely depend on the cost-benefit analysis. Any final decision on blending will be made together with a determination on how to best safeguard consumers.
The government is working closely with Ofgem and industry to investigate how hydrogen may be fairly accommodated in bills.
Source: the guardian, worldenergy
