The UK Government recently stated that they want to reduce the reliance on foreign gas, especially that from Russia, by increasing the amount of clean hydrogen gas to heat homes.

Boris Johnson has said he would like a third of all homes to be heated by Hydrogen by 2050, however not a single "clean energy" boiler is on the market yet and some are asking if Hydrogen is really safe enough to use for domestic heating?

Hydrogen is the lightest chemical element. At standard conditions it is a colourless, odourless, tasteless and non toxic gas. It is also highly combustible.

Hydrogen poses a number of risks to human safety.

It becomes potentially explosive when mixed with air, and can spontaneously ignite and can be an asphyxiant in its purest form.

Hydrogen is reactive with many metals, and so can cause the metal to become brittle, crack and lead to explosions, this would make it potentially unsafe to transport in the majority of existing pipelines.

Hydrogen fires burn extremely hot, but are almost invisible, and so can lead to accidental burns.

Robert Sansom of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s energy policy panel said “The attraction of hydrogen is that for a lot of consumers, they wouldn’t notice any difference. Customers would continue to use a boiler to heat their homes in a similar manner to natural gas,” but with no boilers currently being available, is this plan ever going to be viable?

Some manufacturers have got on board with the idea of using Hydrogen and begun to develop domestic boilers. Worcester Bosch recently unveiled their prototype hydrogen ready boiler which will run on natural gas and can then be easily switched over to Hydrogen after a visit from an engineer. This won the award for Best Heating Innovation at the first ever Green Home Award in April 2021.

The gas industry has also been working in favour of a switch to Hydrogen, perhaps unwittingly, as they have been replacing metal pipes with polyethylene over the last couple of decades. These pipes won't be affected by the previously mentioned corrosion caused by the Hydrogen reacting with the metal, making the transport of the gas more viable.

Boiler manufacturers are still working on a new “Hydrogen-ready” standard, which will mean a switch to 100% hydrogen in the future will be a much easier proposition. Although these boilers are still in development, “hydrogen-blend ready” boilers are widely available with 20% of the fuel source powering the appliance being hydrogen gas and the remaining 80% being natural gas.

The UK Government is currently working through cost, feasibility and safety issues and are expected to make decisions based on findings by 2026.

The Hy4Heat report details some of the findings so far of these trials, including the safety assessment. The HSE independently reviewed the evidence in “Annex to the Site Specific Safety Case for Hydrogen Community Demonstration – downstream of the ECV” and stated its view that gas network operators can draw on these results to plan initial trials, such as the hydrogen villages outlined in the Government’s Ten-Point Plan and Hydrogen Strategy.

Other studies included the determination of what colourants and odorants to add to the gas for further safety, similar to what are added to the natural gas we use now.

The Hy4Heat report can be read here

Point Safety currently provides various hydrogen gas detectors for use in hydrogen production, storage and transportation environments. If you would like to understand more about how we can help, get in touch with our sales team.