Hydrogen hope and hype

A seaside town in northeastern England will become the UK’s first
“hydrogen village,” converting from natural gas to low-carbon hydrogen as part of a plan to hit net zero emissions by 2050

Edinburgh
Newcastle upon Tyne
Redcar
NORTH SEA
ENGLAND
London
Hy4Heat: Project to test 100% hydrogen
100km 62 miles 


UK EMISSIONS (million tonnes, carbon dioxide equivalent, 2021)

Energy supply 80.7 (23.6%)
Business 65.1 (19.1%)
Transport 107.5 (31.5%)
Public sector 7.9 (2.3%)
Residential 68.1 (19.9%)
Other 12.1 (3.5%)

Units of electrical energy
Kilowatt (kW) One thousand watts   
Megawatt (MW) One million watts
Gigawatt (GW) One billion watts
Terawatt (TW) One trillion watts

GREEN HOME HYDROGEN

1 NORTH SEA
2 ELECTROLYSIS
3 STORAGE
4 DISTRIBUTION

Prefabricated, modular water electrolysers


1 NORTH SEA: 12 wind farms run by Ørsted generate 5.6GW of electricity, enough to power 7 million UK homes
5.6 GW

2 ELECTROLYSIS: Green electricity separates hydrogen and oxygen from water. It requires around
5.6 50kW of electricity 50 GW to create each kW kilogram of hydrogen
50kW

3 STORAGE: Ultra- light hydrogen gas requires high-pressure tanks at 700 bar – 700 times normal atmospheric pressure – or storage as liquid
Hydrogen becomes liquid when it is cooled below -252.87°C

4 DISTRIBUTION:
Northern Gas Networks aims to use its existing pipe network to supply about 2,000 homes and businesses in Redcar with 100% hydrogen from 2025

Each kilogram of hydrogen produces 33.3kW of energy when burnt – one-third less 33 energy than used  for electrolysis
33 kW

IS HOME HYDROGEN SAFE?
Hy4Heat quantified risk assessment
(QRA undertaken by Arup and hydrogen certification body Kiwa, May 2021)

Predicted fire and explosion events per year 
Predicted injuries per year

Natural 9 17 gas
Hydrogen 39 65

Hydrogen: Has wider explosive range than natural gas (methane)
Hydrogen will leak three times volume through same hole size as methane


Sources: Arup, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, Ørsted, Kiwa, The Chemical Engineer, Thyssenkrupp © GRAPHIC NEWS