In-depth Q&A: How will the UK’s hydrogen strategy help achieve net-zero?
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Specialists have warned that, with hydrogen in short supply in the coming years, the UK must prioritise it in “hard-to-electrify” sectors such as heavy industry as capacity expands.
Hydrogen will be “vital” for accomplishing the UKs net-zero target and might fulfill up to a third of the nations energy needs by 2050, according to the federal government.
The UKs brand-new, long-awaited hydrogen strategy supplies more information on how the federal government will support the advancement of a domestic low-carbon hydrogen sector, which today is practically non-existent.
In this short article, Carbon Brief highlights bottom lines from the 121-page method and takes a look at a few of the main talking points around the UKs hydrogen strategies.
Why does the UK need a hydrogen technique?
The strategy does not increase this target, although it notes that the government is “familiar with a possible pipeline of over 15GW of jobs”.
As with many of the governments net-zero technique files so far, the hydrogen plan has actually been postponed by months, resulting in unpredictability around the future of this fledgling industry.
The document contains an expedition of how the UK will broaden production and produce a market for hydrogen based on domestic supply chains. This contrasts with Germany, which has been aiming to import hydrogen from abroad.
Companies such as Equinor are pushing on with hydrogen developments in the UK, however industry figures have actually alerted that the UK dangers being left. Other European countries have actually pledged billions to support low-carbon hydrogen growth.
Today we have published the UKs very first Hydrogen Strategy! This is our strategy to: kick-start a whole industry release the market to cut expenses increase domestic production unlock ₤ 4bn of private capital support 9k tasks #BuildBackGreenerhttps:// t.co/ aHZTr5yYeR– Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) August 17, 2021.
However, as the chart below shows, if the governments plans pertain to fulfillment it might then expand significantly– comprising between 20-35% of the countrys overall energy supply by 2050. This will need a major growth of infrastructure and skills in the UK.
A recent All Party Parliamentary Group report on the function of hydrogen in powering industry consisted of a list of needs, specifying that the government must “expand beyond its existing dedications of 5GW production in the forthcoming hydrogen method”. This call has actually been echoed by some market groups.
Critics also characterise hydrogen– the majority of which is presently made from natural gas– as a way for nonrenewable fuel source companies to maintain the status quo. (For all the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen, see Carbon Briefs thorough explainer.).
Hydrogen development for the next years is anticipated to start slowly, with a government aspiration to “see 1GW production capacity by 2025” laid out in the technique.
The strategy also required a ₤ 240m net-zero hydrogen fund, the development of a hydrogen area warmed with the gas by 2023, and increasing hydrogen blending into gas networks to 20% to reduce reliance on natural gas.
Its flexibility implies it can be used to tackle emissions in “hard-to-abate” sectors, such as heavy market, but it presently experiences high costs and low performance..
In its new method, the UK government makes it clear that it sees low-carbon hydrogen as a key part of its net-zero plan, and states it wants the country to be a “international leader on hydrogen” by 2030.
Prior to the new technique, the prime ministers 10-point plan in November 2020 included plans to produce five gigawatts (GW) of annual low-carbon hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030. Presently, this capability stands at practically absolutely no.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has kept in mind that, in order to hit the UKs carbon budgets and attain net-zero emissions, choices in areas such as decarbonising heating and vehicles need to be made in the 2020s to permit time for facilities and car stock changes.
Hydrogen need (pink location) and percentage of final energy consumption in 2050 (%). The central range is based on illustrative net-zero consistent scenarios in the sixth carbon budget impact evaluation and the complete range is based on the whole variety from hydrogen technique analytical annex. Source: UK hydrogen strategy.
Hydrogen is extensively seen as an important part in strategies to accomplish net-zero emissions and has actually been the topic of significant buzz, with many nations prioritising it in their post-Covid green healing strategies.
The level of hydrogen usage in 2050 envisaged by the strategy is rather greater than set out by the CCC in its most recent suggestions, but covers a comparable range to other research studies.
In some applications, hydrogen will complete with electrification and carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the best means of decarbonisation.
There were likewise over 100 references to hydrogen throughout the federal governments energy white paper, showing its potential usage in numerous sectors. It also includes in the industrial and transport decarbonisation strategies released earlier this year.
What variety of low-carbon hydrogen will be prioritised?
In the example selected for the consultation, natural gas paths where CO2 capture rates are below around 85% were excluded..
At the heart of numerous discussions about low-carbon hydrogen production is whether the hydrogen is “green” or “blue”.
The file does refrain from doing that and rather states it will offer “further detail on our production method and twin track approach by early 2022”.
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 primary consider market advancement”.
There was considerable pushback on this conclusion, with other researchers– including CCC head of carbon spending plans, David Joffe– pointing out that it relied on really high methane leak and a short-term procedure of international warming potential that emphasised the effect of methane emissions over CO2.
The figure listed below from the assessment, based upon this analysis, reveals the impact of setting a limit of 15-20gCO2e per megajoule (MJ) of hydrogen (red bar). In this example, those production approaches above the red line, consisting of some for producing blue hydrogen, would be excluded.
The chart below, from a file outlining hydrogen expenses released together with the primary technique, shows the expected declining cost of electrolytic hydrogen with time (green lines). (This includes hydrogen made utilizing grid electricity, which is not technically green unless the grid is 100% renewable.).
Green hydrogen is used electrolysers powered by sustainable electrical energy, while blue hydrogen is used natural gas, with the resulting emissions recorded and kept..
The strategy notes that, sometimes, hydrogen used electrolysers “could become cost-competitive with CCUS [carbon capture, storage and utilisation] -allowed methane reformation as early as 2025”..
Environmental groups and many scientists are sceptical about blue hydrogen provided its associated emissions.
The CCC has cautioned that policies need to develop both blue and green choices, “rather than just whichever is least-cost”.
It has likewise launched an accompanying report, prepared by consultancies E4Tech and Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST), which analyzes maximum acceptable levels of emissions for low-carbon hydrogen production and the methodology for computing these emissions.
The former is essentially zero-carbon, however the latter can still result in emissions due to methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure and the fact that carbon capture and storage (CCS) does not capture 100% of emissions..
Contrast of rate quotes throughout various technology types at central fuel rates commissioning from 2020 to 2050, ₤/ MWh hydrogen. Source: Hydrogen Production Costs.
2021.
As it stands, blue hydrogen used steam methane reformation (SMR) is the cheapest low-carbon hydrogen readily available, according to federal government analysis included in the strategy. (For more on the relative expenses of various hydrogen varieties, see this Carbon Brief explainer.).
Glossary.
This opposition capped when a current research study caused headlines stating that blue hydrogen is “worse for the climate than coal”.
Prof Robert Gross, director of the UK Energy Research Centre, tells Carbon Brief that, in his view, it is “probably a bit unhelpful to get too preoccupied with the blue vs green hydrogen dispute”. He says:.
The CCC has previously mentioned that the government ought to “set out [a] vision for contributions of hydrogen production from various paths to 2035” in its hydrogen method.
CO2 equivalent: Greenhouse gases can be expressed in terms of co2 equivalent, or CO2eq. For a provided amount, different greenhouse gases trap different quantities of heat in the environment, a quantity referred to as the global warming capacity. Carbon dioxide equivalent is a method of comparing emissions from all greenhouse gases, not just co2.
The new method mainly avoids utilizing this colour-coding system, but it says the federal government has actually dedicated to a “twin track” method that will include the production of both ranges.
For its part, the CCC has actually advised a “blue hydrogen bridge” as a beneficial tool for achieving net-zero. It states enabling some blue hydrogen will minimize emissions much faster in the short-term by replacing more nonrenewable fuel sources with hydrogen when there is insufficient green hydrogen available..
” If we want to demonstrate, trial, start to commercialise and then roll out making use of hydrogen in industry/air travel/freight or any place, then we need enough hydrogen. We cant wait until the supply side deliberations are total.”.
Close.
CO2 equivalent: Greenhouse gases can be revealed in terms of co2 equivalent, or CO2eq. For a given amount, various greenhouse gases trap various quantities of heat in the atmosphere, a quantity understood as … Read More.
The CCC has actually previously specified “ideal emissions decreases” for blue hydrogen compared to fossil gas as “a minimum of 95% CO2 capture, 85% lifecycle greenhouse gas savings”.
The federal government has actually launched an assessment on low-carbon hydrogen requirements to accompany the technique, with a promise to “finalise style components” of such requirements by early 2022.
Short (ideally) showing on this blue hydrogen thing. Essentially, the papers computations possibly represent a case where blue H ₂ is done really terribly & & with no sensible regulations. And then cherry-picked an environment metric to make it look as bad as possible. https://t.co/Jx0FdDfdx5— David Joffe (@david_joffe) August 13, 2021.
Jess Ralston, an analyst at thinktank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), stated in a statement that the federal government must “be alive to the danger of gas industry lobbying causing it to devote too heavily to blue hydrogen therefore keeping the country locked into fossil fuel-based innovation”.
The strategy specifies that the proportion of hydrogen provided by specific innovations “depends upon a range of presumptions, which can just be evaluated through the marketplaces response to the policies set out in this technique and real, at-scale implementation of hydrogen”..
Supporting a variety of tasks will provide the UK a “competitive advantage”, according to the government. Germany, by contrast, has stated it will focus specifically on green hydrogen.
How will hydrogen be used in various sectors of the economy?
Low-carbon hydrogen can be utilized to do whatever from sustaining cars to heating homes, the reality is that it will likely be restricted by the volume that can feasibly be produced.
This is in line with the CCCs recommendation for its net-zero path, which sees low-carbon hydrogen scaling approximately 90TWh by 2035– around a 3rd of the size of the present power sector.
Juliet Phillips, senior policy consultant and UK hydrogen specialist at thinktank E3G tells Carbon Brief the strategy had “exposed” the door for usages that “dont add the most worth for the climate or economy”. She includes:.
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 use cases for clean hydrogen into some sort of benefit order, due to the fact that not all use cases are equally likely to prosper. 1/10 pic.twitter.com/I8HpqQjlKS— Michael Liebreich (@MLiebreich) August 15, 2021.
The brand-new technique is clear that industry will be a “lead choice” for early hydrogen usage, starting in the mid-2020s. It likewise states that it will “most likely” be very important for decarbonising transportation– particularly heavy items vehicles, shipping and aviation– and stabilizing a more renewables-heavy grid.
Reacting to the report, energy scientists indicated the “little” volumes of hydrogen expected to be produced in the future and advised the government to choose its concerns carefully.
Commitments made in the brand-new technique include:.
Protection of the report and government advertising products stressed that the governments strategy would provide enough hydrogen to replace natural gas in around 3m houses each year.
Government analysis, included in the technique, recommends prospective hydrogen demand of approximately 38 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030, not consisting of blending it into the gas grid, and increasing to 55-165TWh by 2035.
In the actual report, the federal government said that it anticipated “overall the demand for low carbon hydrogen for heating by 2030 to be relatively low (<< 1TWh)".. " Stronger signals of intent could guide public and personal investments into those locations which add most value. The federal government has not plainly laid out how to pick which sectors will benefit from the preliminary planned 5GW of production and has rather mostly left this to be identified through trials and pilots.". The CCC does not see comprehensive usage of hydrogen beyond these limited cases by 2035, as the chart below programs. Some applications, such as commercial heating, might be essentially impossible without a supply of hydrogen, and many specialists have argued that these are the cases where it should be prioritised, at least in the short-term. It contains plans for hydrogen heating trials and consultation on "hydrogen-ready" boilers by 2026. " As the technique confesses, there will not be significant quantities of low-carbon hydrogen for some time. Michael Liebrich of Liebreich Associates has organised the use of low-carbon hydrogen into a "ladder", with existing applications-- such as the chemicals market-- provided top concern. One noteworthy exemption is hydrogen for fuel-cell traveler vehicles. This follows the federal governments concentrate on electrical cars and trucks, which lots of researchers see as more affordable and efficient technology. Call for proof on "hydrogen-ready" commercial devices by the end of 2021. Call for evidence on phaseout of carbon-intensive hydrogen production in market "within a year". Phase 2 of the ₤ 315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.A ₤ 55 million Industrial Fuel Switching 2 competition in 2021. However, the beginning point for the variety-- 0TWh-- recommends there is considerable uncertainty compared to other sectors, and even the highest estimate is only around a 10th of the energy currently used to heat UK homes. The technique also includes the choice of using hydrogen in sectors that might be better served by electrification, especially domestic heating, where hydrogen has to contend with electric heat pumps.. The federal government is more optimistic about making use of hydrogen in domestic heating. Its analysis recommends that approximately 45TWh of low-carbon hydrogen might be put to this usage by 2035, as the chart listed below shows. The committee stresses that hydrogen use need to be restricted to "areas less fit to electrification, particularly shipping and parts of industry" and providing versatility to the power system. Illustrative hydrogen need in 2030 (blue) and 2035 (purple). Source: UK hydrogen strategy. 4) On page 62 the hydrogen strategy specifies that the federal government expects << 1 TWh of energy for heating to come from hydrogen by 2030. 1 TWh is 0.2%. " I would suggest to go with these no-regret options for hydrogen demand [in market] that are currently offered ... those should be the focus.". Gniewomir Flis, a task supervisor at Agora Energiewende, informs Carbon Brief that-- in his view-- mixing "has no future". He discusses:. Lastly, in order to produce a market for hydrogen, the government says it will examine mixing as much as 20% hydrogen into the gas network by late 2022 and objective to make a last choice in late 2023. Much will hinge on the progress of feasibility studies in the coming years, and the federal governments approaching heat and buildings method may likewise supply some clearness. How does the federal government plan to support the hydrogen industry? Hydrogen demand (pink area) and proportion of final energy usage in 2050 (%). My lovelies, I simply dropped Version 4 of the Clean Hydrogen Ladder! Call for proof on phaseout of carbon-intensive hydrogen production in market "within a year"." As the method admits, there wont be significant quantities of low-carbon hydrogen for some time. 4) On page 62 the hydrogen method specifies that the government expects << 1 TWh of energy for heating to come from hydrogen by 2030. Much of the resulting press coverage of the hydrogen technique, from the Financial Times to the Daily Telegraph, focused on the strategy for a hydrogen industry "subsidised by taxpayers", as the cash would come from either higher bills or public funds. The brand-new hydrogen technique confirms that this company model will be settled in 2022, enabling the very first agreements to be assigned from the start of 2023. This is pending another consultation, which has actually been launched along with the primary strategy. " This will give us a better understanding of the mix of production technologies, how we will meet a ramp-up in demand, and the function that new innovations could play in accomplishing the levels of production necessary to meet our future [sixth carbon budget plan] and net-zero dedications.". Sharelines from this story. According to the governments news release, its preferred model is "developed on a similar property to the overseas wind agreements for difference (CfDs)", which considerably cut costs of new offshore wind farms. As it stands, low-carbon hydrogen stays expensive compared to fossil fuel options, there is uncertainty about the level of future demand and high dangers for business aiming to enter the sector. These agreements are developed to overcome the expense space in between the favored innovation and nonrenewable fuel sources. Hydrogen manufacturers would be given a payment that bridges this gap. Nevertheless, Anne-Marie Trevelyan-- minister for energy, clean growth and climate change at BEIS-- informed the Times that the expense to provide long-lasting security to the industry would be "very small" for individual households. Now that its technique has actually been published, the federal government says it will collect proof from assessments on its low-carbon hydrogen standard, net-zero hydrogen fund and the service design:. The 10-point plan consisted of a pledge to develop a hydrogen company design to encourage private investment and a profits system to provide financing for the service design.