Hydrogen - Intergas Heating

Hydrogen Evolution

To combat the climate crisis, we need to take actions that will be long lasting. Most of us in our daily lives are making changes, some small, some major, that all collectively help to lower harmful emissions, but changes on another level are desperately needed. Putting an end to using fossil fuels to heat our homes and water is a major commitment, and necessary if the UK is to meet its target of carbon zero by 2050. We already know that from 2025 gas and oil boilers will be banned from new build and, from the mid-2030s, you won’t be able to replace a gas or oil boiler with anything other than a low-carbon heating system, or an appliance that can be converted to use a clean fuel. Systems such as a heat pumps or hydrogen-ready boilers will be likely candidates to replace gas and oil boilers but, while heat pumps have been around for some years, hydrogen boilers are rarely out of the news these days. Even so, there’s a lot of assumed knowledge out there, so we thought you might like to check out your hydrogen know-how. You can take the quiz here and get instant gratification as the answers are at the end of this article.

Do you know your hydrogen?

1. What is net carbon zero or net zero?
2. Is helium or hydrogen the most abundant gas in the universe?
3. Which is the lightest gas, helium or hydrogen?
4. Where on Earth will you find most of the hydrogen?
5. What is the difference between blue hydrogen and green hydrogen?
6. Is hydrogen expensive to produce?
7. Which four planets are mainly formed from hydrogen?
8. Hydrogen can be use in pipes existing gas pipelines, true or false?
9. Apart from an alternative to fossil fuels, name one other use for hydrogen.
10. Where is hydrogen on the Periodic Table?

Government targets

The UK’s Hydrogen Strategy sets out the Government’s mission to meet the following targets:
• 68% reduction of emissions by 2030
• 78% reduction of emissions by 2035
• net-zero emissions by 2050

One of the ways this can be achieved is by generating 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. This will be used to power around three million of our homes as well as transport and industry. The Government is also aiming to develop the first town heated entirely by hydrogen by 2030 too.

Next steps
What does this mean for all of us? Currently, the only action we can reasonably take is to ensure the insulation in our properties is the best it can be and that our boilers are the most efficient; by just doing this, we can reduce household emissions. Hydrogen is not ‘on tap’ yet and, as 75% of our homes are heated using natural gas, it will be years before there is sufficient hydrogen capacity to rival it. But you won’t have to wait too long for the hydrogen blend. This is where natural gas and 20% hydrogen is introduced into the gas pipework, and this will be here much sooner. That’s very good news if you already have an Intergas boiler as every appliance, new and old, can operate normally on that blend.

The green light
When the hydrogen gas infrastructure and Government regulations are in place, then Intergas is ready with its 100% hydrogen boiler. We began development of these boilers two-and-a-half years ago, and mass production will commence as soon as we get the green light! If you want to see these boilers in operation, you can. Our prototypes are touring the Netherlands and come to the UK in 2022.

Meanwhile, we are working with the Dutch Government and two local authorities to trial our boilers in two housing schemes:
Hoogeveen 2021-2026
• Phase 1: 100 new homes
• Phase 2: 420 existing homes will be connected to hydrogen supply
Oldampt 2022
• 50 existing homes will be connected to hydrogen supply

These trials are important as we are taking a holistic approach to home heating and will be measuring the efficacity of each home’s heating systems and level of insulation. All too often insulation is not factored in, but it’s pivotal to lowering emissions and energy bills.

Intergas has always pioneered emissions-reducing boiler technology and you can join us in our hydrogen evolution today.

Did you know your hydrogen (quiz answers)?

What is net carbon zero or net zero?: A. This refers to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. There are two different routes to achieving net zero, which work in tandem: reducing existing emissions and actively removing greenhouse gases. When the amount of carbon emissions produced are cancelled out by the amount removed, the UK will be a net-zero emitter. The lower the emissions, the easier this becomes. (FYI, a gross-zero target would mean reducing all emissions to zero. This is not realistic, so instead the net-zero target recognises that there will be some emissions but that these need to be fully offset, predominantly through natural carbon sinks such as oceans and forests.
Is helium or hydrogen the most abundant gas in the universe?: Hydrogen is the most abundant gas, helium comes second. (For Your Information, nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere at around 78%.)
Which is the lightest gas, helium or hydrogen?: Hydrogen is the lightest gas.
Where on Earth will you find most of the hydrogen?: The main location of hydrogen is in water.
What is the difference between blue hydrogen and green hydrogen?: Blue hydrogen is created from fossil sources and the carbon emissions are captured and stored. Green hydrogen is made from non-fossil sources.
Is hydrogen expensive to produce?: Green hydrogen is 2-3 times more expensive than blue hydrogen which is produced from fossil fuels in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The production cost for green hydrogen is determined by the renewable electricity price and the investment cost of the electrolyser which splits the hydrogen out from the water. (FYI. Hydrogen is approximately 6 times more expensive to produce than natural gas.)
Which four planets are mainly formed from hydrogen?: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Hydrogen can be use in pipes existing gas pipelines, true or false?: True and false. If the pipe is made from polyethylene then the hydrogen can be pumped safely. If the pipe is made from steel, the small hydrogen molecules will escape.
Apart from an alternative to fossil fuels, name one other use for hydrogen.: Making ammonia, hydrogenation of fats and oils, methanol production, rocket fuel, welding, production of hydrochloric acid and in the reduction of metallic ores.
Where is hydrogen on the Periodic Table?: It comes first as it only has one electron and the number of electrons largely determines an element’s position on the Periodic Table.

Hydrogen Evolution

Do you know your hydrogen?

Government targets

Did you know your hydrogen (quiz answers)?

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