Issues surrounding hydrogen’s properties and cost make it difficult to justify as a mass-market solution for domestic heating, according to Suzanne Mattei, Energy Policy Analyst at climate action think tank The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
In the latest episode on 1895, Mattei talks about hydrogen and its uses across sectors, including home heating, in terms of market competitiveness, supply and safety – and notes how it invariably falls short on many key metrics.
“Firstly, it’s really not a carbon solution. It takes about three times as much hydrogen to produce the energy of natural gas. So that becomes a volume, systems management and compression issue. You really have to use a lot of hydrogen if you’re trying to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and hydrogen from natural gas is not clean,” she said.
“The notion that carbon capture will take care of it doesn’t work. It’s very inefficient and it doesn’t meet the goals. There are real difficulties on a commercial scale.”
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