£25m OF HOT AIR
A HYDROGEN boiler scheme handed £25million of taxpayers’ cash has been branded an inviable “policy misstep” after UK ministers admitted the technology is unproven.
The two-year H100 pilot in Methil, Fife, by SGN, previously hailed by John Swinney as a “shining example” of net zero policy, has seen 300 homes swi t ch to hydrogen for cooking and heating.
But critics say the technology is inefficient, much more expensive than electricity and gas and driven by a “hydrogen lobby” linked to oil and gas interests.
And it comes after the UK Government admitted last month that it no longer favours hydrogen-powered homes.
In its new future homes strategy, Whitehall officials said: “As hydrogen is not yet a proven technology for home heating, a role would come later and likely be limited.” The deprived areas of Scotland and people got £1000 to install a hydrogen boiler and cooker and to me that seems wrong.
“They’ll peg the hydrogen cost to the same as natural gas for the duration of the trial but who knows what’s happening afterwards?
“There’s an array of information out there saying the price of hydrogen is g o i ng to be significantly higher than natural gas.”
P rof Baxt er claimed he was asked to leave when he tried to raise his concerns at a meeting of the
Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster in 2022.
He added: “Hydrogen for home heating was a misstep that should never have progressed beyond early exploration.
“Decision- making was heavily influenced by lobbying from gas network operators and associated vested interests.”
And he said, even despite governments beginning to retreat from hydrogen heating, “elements of the policy remain resistant to change”. He added: “The Scottish Government, for example, continues to support the H100 Fife residential trial.
“This raises questions – what new evidence justifies investment, and what lessons have been learned from earlier failures?”
Waseem Hanif, of SGN, said: “H100 Fife is a pioneering project. Participation is optional. Households can opt out.”
SNP Energy Secretary Gillian Martin told MSPs in October that H100 Fife “will inform UK Government decisions on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat using the gas network”.
What has been learned from these failures? PROF BAXTER ON FUTURE OF SCHEME