UK Hydrogen Strategy - Demand has gone missing?

This thought piece is intended not to pre-empt the answer but to ensure we have checklist of questions....

We are on the precipice in the UK of receiving the much-awaited Department of Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills (BEIS) strategy linked to the UK Governments 10-point plan, for #buildingbackbetter and #buildingbackgreener.

Spot the trend? We have a much-anticipated Net Zero Strategy which will articulate the detailed plans, and budget dispersion across government and within the COP26 timeframe the Government and President of the COP26 Alok Sharma will be looking to shape the leadership of the top carbon emitting countries with a leading policy.

Seems fine so far - lots of 3 word headlines, prominent positioning, and working toward the Paris Climate Goals for 2050 Net Zero. So why are we waiting for the UK to become the last of the key countries to land the hydrogen strategy. The Prime Minister seems to believe Hydrogen is the right way to go.

Hydrogen Strategy - Thanks for Waiting - the Table is set

We have as the Prime Minister said the wind to make the UK the Saudi Arabia for Renewable Energy with Wind Turbines, and whilst limited sun for Solar PV, we have the technology within the country to improve the efficiency and only today ￡10m has been offered by the Scottish government in Orkney for Tidal Power - which again the UK can harness around the coasts.

We have also a nuclear plan with Small Modular Reactors to compliment the Hinkley B, Sizewell C commitments to provide caseload of energy - to transition to an electric economy. However, what about the harder to decarbonise sectors?

Aviation

It seems there more difficult to decarbonise sectors, where Marine, and Aviation has been listed in the European Green deal to follow with carbon taxation, and incentives offered to bring eFuels to the table, the UK Jet Zero Council working on the strategy to bring SAF forward. Hydrogen for Aviation is being explored by Aerospace Technology Institute's FlyZero programme, which is ramping to a big ask which brings the UK within reach of the French commitment of ￡1.5bn, and no where near the German commitment to Green Hydrogen powered Aircraft...but could make a start.

Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury, has a clear focus on Hydrogen and solving Zero Emissions transport with their next single aisle aircraft programme, whilst Boeing are a little timid - GE and Safran within their CFM International Partnership are taking a step toward the future of aviation with hydrogen.

There is a challenge, the other sectors of Home heating, which arguably are the easy option for the Energy Strategy to tackle are being lobbied by the Petrochemicals industry looking to wean themselves off Oil and now moving to Gas, Methane - with Steam Methane Reforming to make Blue Hydrogen. And serve that Blue Hydrogen in the Methane infrastructures to add a demand of 20% of boilers.What we don't yet see is the Carbon Capture and Sequestration to compliment this - so are we really getting the Net Zero solution we are expecting.

A focus on contracting for difference (CfD) models to finance the early adoption will move homes to hydrogen demand, before harder to abate sectors. The upside is we create a hydrogen knowledge in the UK, with safety and regulation tackled on the ground.

More challenges are certainly ahead with the regulation for Aviation, and Marine - but these are not insurmountable and companies like ZeroAvia, Airbus, and Universal Hydrogen are already making moves into this space with gaseous and liquid hydrogen for aviation. The CAA is going to have to quickly follow the EASA studies into hydrogen safety - as we see Airbus stretching the bet to liquid cryogenic hydrogen in the next 4 years to be providing a high Technology Readiness Level Demonstrator (TRL 6). So by 2024 the demand for aviation comes online and we have to decide if the Green Hydrogen costs will have come to a point of economic conversion into a fuel for the future of aviation.

The US Department of Energy has set an 'Earthshot' to bring Green hydrogen costs to $1/1kg in 1 dedade (1:1:1, June 2021) which will disrupt the oil and gas dominant thinking and challenge the world to take a bold step toward netzero faster than before.

The development of a challenge of this scale will come with a strong commitment from Government to stick with the energy transition.

So let's ask why Private Jets and Cargo Aircraft will not be subject to Aviation Fuel Taxes, and how the UK Aviation sector believes SAF will become economic without huge government investment, and why the hydrogen strategy misses the point with our focus on Aviation where as France, Germany and Spain as well as others are taking a 2 year advantage.

It's time for the Hydrogen Acceleration and with the AMRC High Value Manufacturing Catapult we will be hosting an event in early September to debate and take action ahead of the November COP26 forum, and try and untangle the actions from the words.

#hydrogen #strategy #UK #COP26 #fuel #energy €