• breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    However, the government indicated to the Guardian that it would continue to push hydrogen for home heating, and the body that represents most of the heating industry also vowed to continue to pursue it

    If the tory government, and big oil industry, are pushing for something specific, then I assume its a terrible idea and is being used as a distraction. This reads to me as a way for them to distract from other viable options and grind the change away from fossil fuels to a halt

      • MrMakabar@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        Heat pumps take outside heat into the building, which means per kWh of electricity they produce more then 3 kWh of heat. Since hot water can be stored with ease, all it takes a big water tank with good insulation, hydrogen storage is not needed in this case. Also there are to the best of my knowledge no boilers able to burn both 100% hydrogen and 100% natural gas. The 100% hydrogen ones are even more expensive then heat pumps right now. That is to purchase running them is even more expensive.

        This is a fairytale to pretend hydrogen can just be used instead of gas to not see a huge push for heat pumps, but keep gas infrastructure in place.

      • PupBiru@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        however the cheapest way to make hydrogen is from fossil fuels, so it also continues to line the pockets of the fossil fuel industry until people figure that out and mount enough pressure to force another transition

      • JoBo@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Green hydrogen makes sense as a means of storing electricity from renewables, and for use in some transport applications where batteries aren’t workable. But it’s quite inefficient so it doesn’t make sense to burn hydrogen (green or otherwise) as an alternative to heat pumps. And it’s the “otherwise” that really matters. Making home heating dependent on hydrogen opens the door to other colours of hydrogen, which is exactly what Big Carbon is pushing for.

      • Tschuuuls@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Yeah that’s stupid. We won’t have a abundance of hydrogen, or extra energy to burn for years to come. This hydrogen boiler thing is just a measure to stay on fossils for longer, because certain models will have problems with it and there won’t be enough hydrogen available. Which means oil companies will benefit.

        • Bernie Ecclestoned@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Renewables are peaky, how do you propose we smooth those peaks? Hydrogen or batteries seem the only two viable options for energy storage.

          Plus you can make ammonia from renewables for use as a ship fuel or fertilizer

          Btw energy companies are the ones with the capital to fund the transition off fossil fuels, how else do you propose funding it?