Climate change is one of the most
important challenges we face.
According to the National Grid, we
are making some progress in Britain,
having reduced the carbon intensity
of electricity by 50% from 2013 to
2017. However, our strategy of using
gas, biomass, wind, and solar energy
is limited. Gas still produces vast
amounts of CO 2, and burning biomass
(from harvesting mature trees on the
far side of the world) releases more
CO 2 than coal. Wind and solar remain
s u b s i d y - e n a b l e d , i n t e r m i ttent
producers and have
q u e s t i o n a b l e
environmental costs of
construction. So how
can we address the problem?
Broadly, there are three ways to
decarbonise the global economy:
vastly reduce energy demand;
capture CO 2 following fossil fuel
combustion; and reduce the carbon
intensity of energy. Our insatiable
demand for energy limits the viability
of demand reduction and
carbon capture is yet to be
proven. Hence our focus
needs to be on reducing the carbon
intensity of energy itself. However, we
are not just talking about electricity
generation; we need to consider the
other energy vectors of gas and oil
through which the UK consumes far
more energy: transport (1.7x that of
electricity) and heating (2.7x that of
electricity). Hence, we need to seek a
new, sustainable, and affordable
solution for electricity, transport &
heat.
Hydrogen offers a unique crosssystem
opportunity for fundamental
change in the energy landscape. So
why is hydrogen widely considered to
be ‘the new global green fuel’?
Having the highest energy content of
a n y c o m m o n f u e l b y w e i g h t ,
h y d ro g e n b u r n s
well. Perhaps more
importantly,
h y d ro g e n b u r n s
cleanly to H 2 O (No CO 2 in sight). It has
its challenges (it’s very small and not
very dense) but it’s a flexible, universal
solution for electricity production,
transport, heating, and even energy
storage! Hydrogen is already a
$100bn global market with half of
production for ammonia (used in
fertilisers) and a quarter used in
refining. However, this is the tip of the
i c e b e r g , w i t h
applications being
investigated in every
sector: high profile buses, boats,
trains & cars, insertion in the natural
gas pipeline, reducing the carbon
footprint of industrial processes like
steel production, and electricity
generation using hydrogen powered
turbines & fuel cells.