You might have heard that as part of their carbon-neutral goals, the UK government intends to phase out gas boilers by 2035, and start replacing them with hydrogen ones. While many homeowners are warming to the idea, around half would still like to see how others fare before they jump on the tech. So, will hydrogen boilers be the future, or will the government’s plans fall apart before they’re implemented?
Central heating developments
Central heating is a very old technology that actually goes back to before the ancient Romans. In Britain, though, it really took off in the 1970s, before becoming commonplace in the ‘80s. Before that, people used to keep warm with fires and layers of clothes, but now radiators are installed in homes across the country. New developments are still happening today, with timers and led screens that give us greater control over our heating. Still, though, gas is the standard way of heating our homes and most boilers aren’t equipped to handle hydrogen. So is it worth the switch?
Is hydrogen really better?
Both natural gas and hydrogen boilers burn a gas to heat water and your home, but natural gas produces carbon as a byproduct, while hydrogen doesn’t. This is why hydrogen is considered more environmentally friendly, since it functions the same but isn’t as pollutive. While developing hydrogen boilers and using the gas is more expensive than the alternative, the technology has come a long way in recent years. There are risks in hydrogen, just as there is in natural gas, but if development continues as it has, they should be overcome if hydrogen does become commonplace.
What does the timeline look like?
In August 2021, the government unveiled their Hydrogen Strategy Paper. This details their intentions for hydrogen gas and how extensive they expect its use to be in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This follows their 2020 Ten-Point Plan and Energy White Paper, which outlined their overall strategy. Since 2020, trials of hydrogen gas have been taking place, with the plan to continue until 2025 to test the gas’ safety and suitability.
After 2025, the plan is to squeeze gas boilers out from new-build properties and to introduce a 20% hydrogen blend into the gas grid by 2030. From here, 100% hydrogen will be introduced to the grid, before actively removing gas boilers from homes in favour of hydrogen ones in 2035. If everything is successful, we may even see hydrogen gas everywhere, and not just in home heating.
Whether this plan is successful remains to be seen, but it’s currently going ahead with no plans to stop. It looks like if it works out, then hydrogen boilers are bound to be the future of central heating.