Hydrogen is being talked about alongside heat pumps as a possible head to head option for replacing gas for domestic and commercial hot water and heating. A recent report created by energy analyst “Cornwall Insight” has stated that hydrogen would cost 70-90% more than gas on average. This could result in huge energy bill rises for households over the coming years. The recent report was commissioned by MCS Charitable Foundation and adds more weight to the hydrogen vs heat pumps debate that is being discussed in our industry sector.
Key findings from the report stated “The cost of using 100% hydrogen for domestic heating based on current and projected gas prices sees an increase on average of 70% for the period from 2025. The difference in prices of using hydrogen as a blend is also higher by around 5%. These values are laid out in the report for green hydrogen which is forecast to reach a peak of 94.7% in 2030 before declining to reach 66.3% higher in 2050. For blue hydrogen, a peak of 78.7% is reached in 2039, declining to 71.5% in 2050”. We have already covered the different types of hydrogen ( Green, Blue, Grey, Pink, or Yellow) and a comparison vs heat pump technology in an earlier news article which can be found here https://www.imsheatpumps.co.uk/blog/hydrogen-boilers-vs-heat-pumps-and-the-winner-is/.
Without doubt the winner is… the heat pump.
Cornwall Insight has been recognised as one of the UK’s leading management consultancies in the energy, utilities and environment sector by the Financial Times for three years running. MCS Charitable Foundation is an independent UK-wide charity whose mission is to accelerate the widespread adoption of renewable energy and low carbon technologies. The report is available from the MCS Charitable Foundation website.