Hydrogen boiler push to continue despite verdict of UK watchdog
Hydrogen boiler push to continue despite verdict of UK watchdog
Government and gas-focused industry body resist conclusion that heat pumps are ‘only viable’ option for heating UK homes
However, the government indicated to the Guardian that it would continue to push hydrogen for home heating, and the body that represents most of the heating industry also vowed to continue to pursue it
If the tory government, and big oil industry, are pushing for something specific, then I assume its a terrible idea and is being used as a distraction. This reads to me as a way for them to distract from other viable options and grind the change away from fossil fuels to a halt
Green hydrogen from renewables makes sense to help load balance. Most newish boilers can burn hydrogen, and the infrastructure is in place already, so it makes sense as a transition fuel
Plus
Heat pumps take outside heat into the building, which means per kWh of electricity they produce more then 3 kWh of heat. Since hot water can be stored with ease, all it takes a big water tank with good insulation, hydrogen storage is not needed in this case. Also there are to the best of my knowledge no boilers able to burn both 100% hydrogen and 100% natural gas. The 100% hydrogen ones are even more expensive then heat pumps right now. That is to purchase running them is even more expensive.
This is a fairytale to pretend hydrogen can just be used instead of gas to not see a huge push for heat pumps, but keep gas infrastructure in place.
Green hydrogen makes sense as a means of storing electricity from renewables, and for use in some transport applications where batteries aren't workable. But it's quite inefficient so it doesn't make sense to burn hydrogen (green or otherwise) as an alternative to heat pumps. And it's the "otherwise" that really matters. Making home heating dependent on hydrogen opens the door to other colours of hydrogen, which is exactly what Big Carbon is pushing for.
Yeah that's stupid. We won't have a abundance of hydrogen, or extra energy to burn for years to come. This hydrogen boiler thing is just a measure to stay on fossils for longer, because certain models will have problems with it and there won't be enough hydrogen available. Which means oil companies will benefit.
I'll use gas until they switch it off.
The astronomical price of heat pumps isn't something that should be put on the average homeowner, when a gas boiler is less than a grand.
Panasonic makes ones for ~4k€. Also ac units are heatpumps, if your house pipe work isn't up to the task.
A lot of countries have subsidized the switch, causing it to make economic sense for people to make the jump. At one point, Italy was paying 110% of the cost