In-depth Q&A: How will the UK’s hydrogen strategy help achieve net-zero?
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$17.99 (as of 18:55 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)Professionals have alerted that, with hydrogen in short supply in the coming years, the UK must prioritise it in “hard-to-electrify” sectors such as heavy market as capability expands.
The UKs new, long-awaited hydrogen method supplies more detail on how the federal government will support the advancement of a domestic low-carbon hydrogen sector, which today is virtually non-existent.
Firm choices around the extent of hydrogen use in domestic heating and how to ensure it is produced in a low-carbon method have actually been delayed or put out to assessment for the time being.
In this article, Carbon Brief highlights bottom lines from the 121-page technique and analyzes a few of the primary talking points around the UKs hydrogen strategies.
Hydrogen will be “critical” for accomplishing the UKs net-zero target and might fulfill up to a 3rd of the countrys energy needs by 2050, according to the government.
Why does the UK require a hydrogen strategy?
Hydrogen development for the next years is anticipated to start gradually, with a government goal to “see 1GW production capacity by 2025” set out in the method.
Critics also characterise hydrogen– many of which is currently made from natural gas– as a way for fossil fuel business to maintain the status quo. (For all the benefits and drawbacks of hydrogen, see Carbon Briefs thorough explainer.).
The level of hydrogen usage in 2050 envisaged by the method is rather higher than set out by the CCC in its most recent advice, but covers a comparable variety to other research studies.
Today we have actually released the UKs very first Hydrogen Strategy! This is our strategy to: kick-start a whole industry let loose the market to cut expenses ramp up domestic production unlock ₤ 4bn of private capital assistance 9k tasks #BuildBackGreenerhttps:// t.co/ aHZTr5yYeR– Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) August 17, 2021.
A current All Party Parliamentary Group report on the role of hydrogen in powering market consisted of a list of needs, stating that the government needs to “expand beyond its existing commitments of 5GW production in the forthcoming hydrogen strategy”. This call has been echoed by some industry groups.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has actually noted that, in order to strike the UKs carbon spending plans and accomplish net-zero emissions, decisions in locations such as decarbonising heating and lorries need to be made in the 2020s to enable time for infrastructure and vehicle stock changes.
Hydrogen demand (pink location) and proportion of last energy intake in 2050 (%). The central variety is based on illustrative net-zero consistent circumstances in the sixth carbon spending plan effect assessment and the complete range is based on the entire variety from hydrogen strategy analytical annex. Source: UK hydrogen method.
Hydrogen is extensively viewed as an essential element in plans to achieve net-zero emissions and has actually been the subject of significant hype, with many countries prioritising it in their post-Covid green healing strategies.
The strategy does not increase this target, although it keeps in mind that the federal government is “aware of a possible pipeline of over 15GW of projects”.
The strategy likewise required a ₤ 240m net-zero hydrogen fund, the creation of a hydrogen area heated up with the gas by 2023, and increasing hydrogen blending into gas networks to 20% to decrease reliance on natural gas.
As with most of the federal governments net-zero strategy documents so far, the hydrogen plan has been postponed by months, resulting in uncertainty around the future of this recently established industry.
There were also over 100 referrals to hydrogen throughout the governments energy white paper, reflecting its prospective use in many sectors. It likewise features in the industrial and transportation decarbonisation techniques released earlier this year.
As the chart listed below shows, if the federal governments strategies come to fulfillment it might then expand considerably– making up between 20-35% of the countrys total energy supply by 2050. This will require a major expansion of infrastructure and skills in the UK.
Prior to the brand-new technique, the prime ministers 10-point plan in November 2020 consisted of strategies to produce 5 gigawatts (GW) of annual low-carbon hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030. Presently, this capability stands at essentially no.
Its flexibility implies it can be utilized to tackle emissions in “hard-to-abate” sectors, such as heavy market, but it currently struggles with high prices and low efficiency..
In its new strategy, the UK government makes it clear that it sees low-carbon hydrogen as a key part of its net-zero strategy, and states it desires the country to be a “global leader on hydrogen” by 2030.
In some applications, hydrogen will compete with electrification and carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the very best means of decarbonisation.
Companies such as Equinor are continuing with hydrogen advancements in the UK, however market figures have actually warned that the UK dangers being left. Other European nations have actually vowed billions to support low-carbon hydrogen expansion.
The document contains an expedition of how the UK will broaden production and create a market for hydrogen based upon domestic supply chains. This contrasts with Germany, which has been aiming to import hydrogen from abroad.
What variety of low-carbon hydrogen will be prioritised?
The CCC has actually previously specified that the federal government should “set out [a] vision for contributions of hydrogen production from different paths to 2035” in its hydrogen technique.
The figure listed below from the consultation, based upon this analysis, shows the impact of setting a threshold of 15-20gCO2e per megajoule (MJ) of hydrogen (red bar). In this example, those production techniques above the red line, including some for producing blue hydrogen, would be omitted.
For its part, the CCC has actually advised a “blue hydrogen bridge” as an useful tool for accomplishing net-zero. It says permitting some blue hydrogen will decrease emissions quicker in the short-term by replacing more nonrenewable fuel sources with hydrogen when there is not sufficient green hydrogen offered..
Jess Ralston, an expert at thinktank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), stated in a declaration that the federal government must “live to the danger of gas market lobbying causing it to commit too heavily to blue hydrogen and so keeping the country locked into fossil fuel-based innovation”.
The brand-new method mostly avoids using this colour-coding system, however it states the federal government has actually committed to a “twin track” technique that will include the production of both varieties.
In May, S&P Global Platts reported that Rita Wadey– hydrogen economy deputy director at the Department for Business, Energy & & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)– said that, rather than “blue” or “green”, the UK would “think about carbon strength as the main aspect in market development”.
CO2 equivalent: Greenhouse gases can be expressed in regards to carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2eq. For an offered quantity, various greenhouse gases trap various amounts of heat in the atmosphere, a quantity called the global warming capacity. Carbon dioxide equivalent is a way of comparing emissions from all greenhouse gases, not simply co2.
The previous is essentially zero-carbon, but the latter can still lead to emissions due to methane leaks from gas infrastructure and the fact that carbon capture and storage (CCS) does not catch 100% of emissions..
The plan keeps in mind that, in many cases, hydrogen made using electrolysers “could become cost-competitive with CCUS [carbon storage, utilisation and capture] -enabled methane reformation as early as 2025”..
Nevertheless, there was significant pushback on this conclusion, with other researchers– consisting of CCC head of carbon budgets, David Joffe– mentioning that it relied on extremely high methane leak and a short-term step of worldwide warming potential that emphasised the effect of methane emissions over CO2.
Comparison of rate estimates throughout different innovation types at main fuel costs commissioning from 2020 to 2050, ₤/ MWh hydrogen. Source: Hydrogen Production Costs.
2021.
At the heart of many discussions about low-carbon hydrogen production is whether the hydrogen is “green” or “blue”.
Supporting a variety of projects will give the UK a “competitive benefit”, according to the federal government. Germany, by contrast, has said it will focus solely on green hydrogen.
As it stands, blue hydrogen made utilizing steam methane reformation (SMR) is the most inexpensive low-carbon hydrogen readily available, according to federal government analysis included in the technique. (For more on the relative expenses of different hydrogen varieties, see this Carbon Brief explainer.).
The strategy specifies that the percentage of hydrogen supplied by specific technologies “depends upon a variety of assumptions, which can just be evaluated through the markets reaction to the policies set out in this technique and genuine, at-scale release of hydrogen”..
Brief (hopefully) showing on this blue hydrogen thing. And then cherry-picked an environment metric to make it look as bad as possible.
The government has released an assessment on low-carbon hydrogen requirements to accompany the technique, with a promise to “settle design components” of such standards by early 2022.
The document does not do that and instead states it will supply “additional information on our production strategy and twin track technique by early 2022”.
In the example selected for the assessment, natural gas routes where CO2 capture rates are below around 85% were excluded..
It has also launched an accompanying report, prepared by consultancies E4Tech and Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST), which takes a look at optimum acceptable levels of emissions for low-carbon hydrogen production and the methodology for calculating these emissions.
The CCC has actually formerly specified “appropriate emissions reductions” for blue hydrogen compared to fossil gas as “a minimum of 95% CO2 capture, 85% lifecycle greenhouse gas cost savings”.
This opposition came to a head when a recent study caused headlines mentioning that blue hydrogen is “worse for the environment than coal”.
The chart below, from a document describing hydrogen costs released along with the main technique, reveals the anticipated declining cost of electrolytic hydrogen gradually (green lines). (This includes hydrogen used grid electrical power, which is not technically green unless the grid is 100% eco-friendly.).
Close.
CO2 equivalent: Greenhouse gases can be revealed in regards to co2 equivalent, or CO2eq. For an offered quantity, various greenhouse gases trap various amounts of heat in the atmosphere, an amount known as … Read More.
Prof Robert Gross, director of the UK Energy Research Centre, tells Carbon Brief that, in his view, it is “most likely a bit unhelpful to get too preoccupied with the blue vs green hydrogen dispute”. He says:.
Green hydrogen is made utilizing electrolysers powered by sustainable electrical power, while blue hydrogen is used gas, with the resulting emissions captured and saved..
Glossary.
” If we desire to show, trial, start to commercialise and after that present making use of hydrogen in industry/air travel/freight or wherever, then we need enough hydrogen. We cant wait up until the supply side considerations are total.”.
The CCC has actually cautioned that policies need to develop both green and blue options, “instead of just whichever is least-cost”.
Many scientists and ecological groups are sceptical about blue hydrogen provided its associated emissions.
How will hydrogen be used in various sectors of the economy?
Some applications, such as commercial heating, may be practically impossible without a supply of hydrogen, and numerous experts have argued that these are the cases where it need to be prioritised, a minimum of in the short term.
” As the strategy confesses, there will not be significant quantities of low-carbon hydrogen for some time. [] we require to utilize it where there are few alternatives and not as a like-for-like replacement of gas,” Dr Jan Rosenow, director of European programs at the Regulatory Assistance Project, in a statement.
The committee stresses that hydrogen usage need to be limited to “locations less matched to electrification, particularly delivering and parts of industry” and providing versatility to the power system.
The federal government is more positive about using hydrogen in domestic heating. Its analysis suggests that as much as 45TWh of low-carbon hydrogen could be put to this use by 2035, as the chart listed below shows.
Juliet Phillips, senior policy consultant and UK hydrogen professional at thinktank E3G tells Carbon Brief the strategy had “left open” the door for uses that “do not include the most worth for the environment or economy”. She adds:.
Federal government analysis, included in the method, suggests prospective hydrogen need of as much as 38 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030, not including blending it into the gas grid, and rising to 55-165TWh by 2035.
Michael Liebrich of Liebreich Associates has actually organised making use of low-carbon hydrogen into a “ladder”, with existing applications– such as the chemicals industry– offered leading concern.
” Stronger signals of intent could guide personal and public financial investments into those locations which add most value. The federal government has not plainly laid out how to pick which sectors will gain from the preliminary scheduled 5GW of production and has rather mainly left this to be identified through trials and pilots.”.
Dedications made in the brand-new strategy consist of:.
It includes prepare for hydrogen heating trials and assessment on “hydrogen-ready” boilers by 2026.
Call for evidence on “hydrogen-ready” industrial devices by the end of 2021. Require evidence on phaseout of carbon-intensive hydrogen production in industry “within a year”. Phase 2 of the ₤ 315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.A ₤ 55 million Industrial Fuel Switching 2 competition in 2021.
So, my lovelies, I simply dropped Version 4 of the Clean Hydrogen Ladder! For anybody brand-new to all this, the ladder is my attempt to put usage cases for clean hydrogen into some sort of merit order, because not all use cases are equally most likely to prosper. 1/10 pic.twitter.com/I8HpqQjlKS— Michael Liebreich (@MLiebreich) August 15, 2021.
The starting point for the range– 0TWh– recommends there is significant uncertainty compared to other sectors, and even the highest estimate is just around a 10th of the energy presently utilized to heat UK houses.
The technique also consists of the choice of utilizing hydrogen in sectors that may be better served by electrification, particularly domestic heating, where hydrogen has to complete with electrical heat pumps..
However, in the real report, the federal government stated that it expected “in general the need for low carbon hydrogen for heating by 2030 to be relatively low (<< 1TWh)".. Although low-carbon hydrogen can be used to do everything from sustaining cars to heating houses, the truth is that it will likely be limited by the volume that can probably be produced. The new strategy is clear that industry will be a "lead alternative" for early hydrogen use, starting in the mid-2020s. It also says that it will "most likely" be essential for decarbonising transportation-- particularly heavy products vehicles, shipping and aviation-- and balancing a more renewables-heavy grid. Protection of the report and government promotional products stressed that the federal governments strategy would offer sufficient hydrogen to replace natural gas in around 3m houses each year. Responding to the report, energy researchers indicated the "little" volumes of hydrogen anticipated to be produced in the future and urged the federal government to select its concerns thoroughly. This is in line with the CCCs suggestion for its net-zero path, which sees low-carbon hydrogen scaling approximately 90TWh by 2035-- around a third of the size of the existing power sector. The CCC does not see comprehensive use of hydrogen outside of these restricted cases by 2035, as the chart below programs. Illustrative hydrogen demand in 2030 (blue) and 2035 (purple). Source: UK hydrogen technique. One significant exclusion is hydrogen for fuel-cell automobile. This follows the governments concentrate on electric cars and trucks, which many scientists consider as more cost-effective and effective innovation. 4) On page 62 the hydrogen method states that the government anticipates << 1 TWh of energy for heating to come from hydrogen by 2030. Existing energy demand in the UK for space and warm water heating is 435 TWh according to Ofgem. 1 TWh is 0.2%. Thats about 67,000 houses.-- Jan Rosenow (@janrosenow) August 17, 2021. Gniewomir Flis, a task manager at Agora Energiewende, informs Carbon Brief that-- in his view-- blending "has no future". He explains:. Much will hinge on the development of feasibility research studies in the coming years, and the federal governments approaching heat and buildings method might also provide some clarity. Lastly, in order to develop a market for hydrogen, the federal government says it will take a look at blending up to 20% hydrogen into the gas network by late 2022 and objective to make a decision in late 2023. " I would suggest to choose these no-regret choices for hydrogen demand [in industry] that are currently readily available ... those ought to be the focus.". How does the federal government strategy to support the hydrogen industry? The 10-point strategy included a pledge to develop a hydrogen organization model to encourage private investment and an income system to provide funding for business design. Hydrogen need (pink location) and proportion of last energy consumption in 2050 (%). My lovelies, I simply dropped Version 4 of the Clean Hydrogen Ladder! Call for evidence on phaseout of carbon-intensive hydrogen production in industry "within a year"." As the strategy admits, there will not be substantial amounts of low-carbon hydrogen for some time. 4) On page 62 the hydrogen technique states that the federal government anticipates << 1 TWh of energy for heating to come from hydrogen by 2030. Anne-Marie Trevelyan-- minister for energy, tidy growth and climate change at BEIS-- informed the Times that the expense to supply long-lasting security to the market would be "very little" for private families. " This will give us a better understanding of the mix of production innovations, how we will fulfill a ramp-up in demand, and the role that brand-new innovations could play in attaining the levels of production needed to meet our future [6th carbon spending plan] and net-zero commitments.". Sharelines from this story. These contracts are developed to overcome the cost space in between the preferred innovation and fossil fuels. Hydrogen manufacturers would be provided a payment that bridges this gap. As it stands, low-carbon hydrogen stays expensive compared to nonrenewable fuel source alternatives, there is unpredictability about the level of future demand and high dangers for business intending to enter the sector. Now that its technique has actually been published, the government says it will gather proof from assessments on its low-carbon hydrogen standard, net-zero hydrogen fund and business design:. Much of the resulting press coverage of the hydrogen strategy, from the Financial Times to the Daily Telegraph, concentrated on the plan for a hydrogen industry "subsidised by taxpayers", as the cash would come from either higher bills or public funds. According to the federal governments news release, its preferred model is "built on a comparable facility to the overseas wind contracts for distinction (CfDs)", which substantially cut expenses of brand-new offshore wind farms. The brand-new hydrogen technique verifies that this service model will be settled in 2022, enabling the very first agreements to be assigned from the start of 2023. This is pending another assessment, which has actually been released along with the primary strategy.