An ambitious UK project shows great potential of hydrogen
In looking for solutions to a major national problem — the consumption of natural gas for heating — UK policy makers have made an important discovery. One that’s valuable for Australia and many other countries struggling with the question of how to move to a reliable, carbon-free energy economy. This is that hydrogen is a safe and economically viable fuel — even in markets where traditional fossil fuels are not in short supply.
The UK has access to abundant natural gas in the North Sea, so why look for alternatives? The Climate Change Act is one reason. Passed in 2008, this forms the basis of the UK’s response to tackling climate change. It requires that carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases are reduced and climate change risks prepared for. This led to the UK targeting a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and developing a plan to get there.
The UK is one of the few major European countries to hit its climate goals to date. It’s also attracted positive headlines for going three days without burning coal and having solar generate more power than natural gas for an hour. Yet those behind the Leeds H21 initiative knew that if the country continued burning natural gas at its current rate, it would fail to hit future carbon reduction targets.
The UK’s chilly temperatures mean alternative heating sources will play a big part in reducing natural gas consumption. Heat accounts for about 30 per cent of the country’s emissions and more than three-quarters of that heat is derived from natural gas. With a well-established gas grid, replacement would require not just an enormous investment but a great amount of disruption to families and businesses across the country.
Led by the Northern Gas Network, the ambitious H21 project was established and funded by the UK Government to determine if the existing gas grid could be converted to hydrogen. Leeds was selected as a testing ground due to its size, location and the complexity of its grid.
Results included:
· If stretched UK-wide, the project found that hydrogen gas could reduce heat-related emissions by at least 73 per cent.
· The whole project could be completed at a very reasonably cost of £2 billion ($AU3.6 billion) by using existing underground pipes and converting household appliances to hydrogen.
What we can learn from Leeds H21:
· If hydrogen is technically possible and economically viable for a large and complex UK city, it would also be a safe and beneficial source of energy for Australia and other economies.
· Assessing the viability of alternative power sources must involve looking at direct and indirect costs. The viability of hydrogen in Leeds despite the abundance of natural gas required the team to consider the social, environmental as well as economic costs. This is a more realistic way of evaluating the true long-term cost of energy.
· In Australia, where our natural gas carrying systems are made of a different substance than they use in the UK, we might not be able to pipe hydrogen into homes. What we could do, however, is use hydrogen to run power plants and create hydrogen-powered electricity.
Australia is already behind the eight ball on hydrogen initiatives. Other countries like the UK are showing the potential is there so we need to play catch up.
Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, is trying to build up a head of steam supporting hydrogen as a power source in Australia. In a recent interview, he proposed creating hydrogen from excess renewable energy as a way to utilise otherwise wasted energy and bring more resilience to Australia’s electricity system. This would be green hydrogen, meaning that there would be a 100 percent reduction in carbon in comparison with traditional coal-fired power which produces significant carbon emissions.
The Leeds H21 project team and the UK Government should be applauded for seeing the bigger picture and being brave enough to go against the critics. H21 is a small part of a wider shift toward a Hydrogen economy. As that economic shift happens Australia cannot afford to be left lagging behind, stuck on a diet of coal. Their findings provide much-needed impetus for more governments and businesses to get behind hydrogen initiatives in Australia and beyond.
Andrew Horvath is the Global Group Chairman of Star Scientific.
