The UK is amongst the top 10 countries globally investing in hydrogen technologies to meet its ambitious 2050 net zero commitments.

A new standardization document, PAS 4444, supports  the transition from Natural Gas to hydrogen in industrial and commercial applications, giving guidance to appliance developers and manufacturers, many of whom are developing hydrogen-ready boilers. 

It’s likely we’ll be hearing a lot more about hydrogen as a fuel for the future, so what do you need to know?

What are the goals?

Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, 193 countries plus the EU committed to act to reduce global warming. More than 70 countries have now pledged to get to net-zero emissions, including the US, EU, China and the UK. Each of these countries has chosen different approaches to reach its targets, investing in areas such as nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar power.

In the UK, 36.3% of energy was  generated from renewable sources  in Q3 2022.  To fuel a speedier transition to net zero as 2050 approaches, the UK is further diversifying its low emissions energy portfolio, including investment into off-shore wind farms and tidal power.

Hydrogen is a key plank of the UK’s Net Zero Strategy. The UK’s Hydrogen Strategy of August 2021 laid out a vision for a world-leading hydrogen economy, unlocking £4 billion investment by 2030 to ensure the UK maximized its hydrogen potential. The Strategy  set a production target of 5GW by 2030; this has already been doubled to 10GW.

Hydrogen’s advantages

Currently, around 30% of the UK’s emissions are from natural gas (methane) used to heat houses. Hydrogen’s big advantage is that it produces no carbon dioxide during combustion, only emitting water.  Whilst being the most abundant element in our universe, hydrogen doesn’t exist in a pure form on Earth, so has to be produced  – a cost that makes hydrogen relatively expensive for the time being. The process to produce hydrogen is called electrolysis and involves passing an electric current through water (H2O) to split the oxygen from the hydrogen (h2).

If the electricity is generated using renewable energy from wind, solar or tidal sources, the resulting “green” hydrogen is entirely emissions free. Other forms of hydrogen, such as ‘pink’ or ‘blue’ hydrogen follow the same process which is powered from other energy sources, such as nuclear power.

Hydrogen is also readily found in natural gas. But this extraction process generates CO2 as a by-product, meaning that carbon capture technology is needed  to complement the process to remain emissions-free.

Countries pioneering hydrogen projects

Significant hydrogen generation projects are already underway across the globe. Germany has introduced the world’s first hydrogen powered trains. China has over 250 hydrogen refuelling stations for around 6,000 fuel-cell vehicles. Norway is investigating its vast potential for extracting green hydrogen from hydropower. The Japanese automotive sector is leading the way on hydrogen cars.

The UK story

In the UK, many projects for the production, storage and supply of hydrogen have launched recently or are in development. Many concern transport: work is underway on the first hydrogen powered seagoing ferries to connect the Orkney Isles to mainland Scotland, while zero-emissions, hydrogen-fuelled double-decker buses are operating on the roads of London.

Others are exploring the possibility of hydrogen for residential and commercial heating and cooking. Under the Hy4Heat Research and Innovation Programme, set up by the UK Government in 2017,  manufacturers successfully developed functioning hydrogen appliance prototypes. Performance testing demonstrated that hydrogen usage can be made as safe as natural gas for users

In a pioneering trial of hydrogen in a modern gas network, Keele University successfully introduced 20% hydrogen to its natural gas supply on its Stoke-on-Trent campus. If a 20% blend of hydrogen to natural gas could be rolled out across the UK, it would reduce CO2 emissions by six million tonnes – equivalent to taking 2.5 million cars off the road.

To support this promising evidence that hydrogen could become a low-carbon solution, BSI have released PAS 4444:2020 Hydrogen fired gas appliances – Guide.

Guidance for gas appliances

PAS 4444:2020 defines the requirements and components for metering, providing the critical guidance need to develop and build hydrogen-fired gas appliances that are either purpose-built to use hydrogen or are designed to be converted to use hydrogen. PAS 4444:2020 covers the functional specification of the appliance, including specific advice on demonstrating safety. PAS 4444:2020 also includes worst-case condition guidance  to stress the appliance beyond its normal service load to ensure it is safe for normal service use.

The PAS could form the basis of wide-scale hydrogen fuel appliance standardization in the UK and beyond. Its use will help to progress the exploration of hydrogen’s role as a major contributor to curbing climate change.

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