For those who remember school science lessons, you’ll know hydrogen as the first element on the periodic table. Hydrogen itself is never found on its own, rather as part of more complex molecules, like water.
The great thing about hydrogen is that when it’s burned, no carbon emissions are released. And it can be used for heat, power and even fuel for large vehicles like HGVs. Hydrogen holds a lot of energy so it’s great for transporting large amounts of energy to where it’s needed.
But hydrogen isn’t found naturally on its own, it has to be made either through electrolysis or through reforming methane. Both methods can be used in a way that keeps carbon emissions to a minimum.
With much of the UK looking to switch to greener, sustainable energy in the future, we’ve put together some important information to answer your hydrogen questions and explain how we’re playing our part to achieve the UK government's ambition of net zero by 2050.
To achieve net zero, most homes will need new or different heating systems as well being much better insulated with controls for energy use. There are a number of options available including heat pumps, district heating systems, hybrid solutions and hydrogen. The Government has yet to set out how much of each is needed and where.
Whatever the government decides to do about future energy choices, there will need to be a great deal of change eventually. Increasing the capacity of the electricity grid or building hydrogen production facilities are both large projects but the gain will be a sustainable future for us all.
How the investment we've talked about above is reflected in utility bills or income taxes is something that the Government will decide. It is clear, though, that this investment has to be made if we are to have a sustainable future.
Finding the right solution for a greener future is not a competition between electricity and gas. We will need both (and nuclear and other options) to supply customer needs and reach net zero. While renewable electricity will play a massive role, experts now agree that hydrogen will also be needed to get us to net zero.
We are involved in projects looking at all aspects of using hydrogen in future - from billing and pipelines to blending and customer attitudes.
We’re involved in several hydrogen projects in partnerships with the energy sector.
The three main areas we lead on are blending, industrial power and decarbonising heavy transport.
As the UK works towards reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, it’s important to take action as soon as possible, starting to decarbonise heating and replace natural gas with a greener alternative. At Cadent, we believe the best option for this is hydrogen.
Find out more about hydrogen blending.
