'Unambiguous' | A total of 54 independent studies now say there will be no significant role for hydrogen in heating
Hydrogen heating pathways would push up consumer bills, says expanded meta-review from researcher Jan Rosenow
A total of 54 studies discount the widespread use of hydrogen in the heating of buildings, according to an updated peer-reviewed meta-review of the independent scientific literature on the matter, putting another nail in the coffin of the notion that hydrogen has a significant role to play in zero-carbon heat.
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Hydrogen heating raised energy system costs by a median of 24% compared to electrification (heat pumps and district heating), with a huge range of 0-400% across all 54 studies.
Even more shockingly, the studies show that consumer costs would rise — by a median of 86% across all studies.
Rosenow’s review failed to find a single independent study supporting heating with hydrogen at scale.
The reason for this is that hydrogen needs to be produced, either through electrolysis or reformed from fossil gas — requiring four to six times more energy input compared to direct electrical solutions such as heat pumps, and two to three times as much gas as using that fuel directly.
“This meta-review indicates that the scientific evidence pertaining to hydrogen heating is unambiguous,” reads the report. “None of the independent studies analysed in this review suggests a significant role for hydrogen in space or hot water heating, points to a pathway dominated by hydrogen as the least-cost pathway, or suggests lower consumer costs for hydrogen compared with the alternatives such as electrification and district heating.”
It adds: “This is because it is less efficient, more costly, and more environmentally harmful than alternatives such as heat pumps and district heating.”
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