The UK government is exploring whether to permit hydrogen blending of up to 20% in the gas grid.
This briefing sets out the case against doing so:
- Blending does not encourage strategic deployment of hydrogen in sectors where it is the primary option for decarbonisation. Without a strategic vision, blending risks locking in hydrogen for inefficient uses like domestic heating, at the expense of other sectors.
- Blending could hike energy bills for households and industry. Household bills could increase by anywhere between 7 and 20%. For the average medium property, a 16% increase in gas prices would represent a bill increase of £192 per year.
- Blending risks derailing domestic heat decarbonisation. Blending could risk greenwash if the public are told “gas has gone green”, when hydrogen-ready boilers will burn fossil fuels for decades. This could delay investment into genuinely zero-carbon heating and curtail strategic decisions about the future of the gas grid.
E3G’s “Against hydrogen blending: Building the UK’s hydrogen economy needs a more strategic approach” can be accessed here
