UK hydrogen strategy – a summary of key policy proposals

Ricardo is supporting organisations around the world with the adoption and application of hydrogen as a critical fuel to enable the realisation of a low carbon future. On the 17 August, the UK Government published the UK hydrogen strategy. Ricardo’s Colin McNaught reviews the key policy proposals and how they match the ambition for hydrogen?

 Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen has had champions over the years who have pointed out its many benefits including flexibility, energy density, and suitability for storage.  This has sometimes led to hydrogen being captioned as the “Fuel of the Future”, used for 100% of energy demand in a “Hydrogen Economy”.  In the past the riposte from sceptics has been that hydrogen’s role will always be in the future.

So why is hydrogen now much more prominent in the energy news?

The simple answer is that the need to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius forces more aggressive decarbonisation.  This has drawn in sectors such as marine and aviation – sectors which are hard to decarbonise through electrification.
So, while the physics, chemistry, and engineering challenges of hydrogen have not changed, the context for its use has. 

A useful example is shipping – a large vessel may carry thousands of tonnes of fuel oil.  Because the energy density (kWh/kg) of a battery system is typically 24 times lower, a Panamax cargo vessel (a mid-range container vessel) with 5,000 tonnes of fuel oil would need to carry 120,000 tonnes of batteries – more than twice the mass of the cargo carried.  While future vessels will be more efficient, hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as ammonia, can address this issue for shipping.
Ricardo have been involved with the development and demonstration of hydrogen technology for many years such as:

• Fuel cell policy / feasibility e.g. for heavy duty vehicles including  buses

• Hydrogen & ammonia production and use for shipping

• Hydrogen for aviation

• Hydrogen for internal combustion engines (heavy duty vehicles and rail)

The UK’s hydrogen strategy is a hugely positive step forward, as the Government commitment provides clarity that is important in itself, and as a mechanism for stimulating investment from the private sector. Indeed, the strategy will provide further stimulus for us to work with our clients in development and implementation of hydrogen technologies.