Proposed Alberta Hydrogen Subdivision Would Cost 4–10x For Heating
Hydrogen is a really expensive replacement for natural gas and even worse compared to heatpumps
Every time I publish an article or post something on LinkedIn pointing out the economic folly and inevitable cul-de-sac of hydrogen-for-energy, commenters drag out new examples of bad hydrogen schemes, whether as ideas they think are proving my point or examples that disprove my thesis. After publishing on Canada’s $25 billion, progress-light and reality-deficient hydrogen strategy recently, one of the comments asserted that Edmonton would be getting a new subdivision entirely heated by hydrogen.
What’s the organizational provenance of this idea? Well, it’s mostly ATCO, the Alberta-based family business that not only provides those ubiquitous green and white construction modular offices, but also has a natural gas utility in its portfolio of businesses (along with now sold and natural gas generation plants). Yes, ATCO is firmly embedded in Alberta’s fossil fuel ecosystem, and like the majority of gas utilities globally, is trying to pretend that hydrogen is its get-out-of-utility-death-spiral-free card.
They are already building a hydrogen home in Sherwood Park, an Edmonton-area bedroom community with Qualico, a commercial…
