Rinnai, manufacturer of hot water heating units and delivery systems for all commercial sites, is to create a comprehensive information hub dedicated to the subject of hydrogen as a low carbon energy for the future.
The Rinnai Hydrogen Information Hub will be aimed at building services consultants, engineers, specifiers and end-users. It will be available online and will offer webinars and digital or onsite meetings. ‘Rinnai welcomes the UK government’s recent Ten Point Plan, in particular the drive to decarbonisation through the use of hydrogen,’ said Rinnai’s Chris Goggin, who is also a board member of the ICOM Energy Association.
The UK, along with many other countries, faces an energy trilemma – the pressing need for decarbonisation, which means a shift in energy pathways; security and longevity of supply; and long-term affordability to the industrial and end consumer. The UK’s housing stock is more than 24 million units and the country saw total energy consumption increase by 1.1% in 2018 to reach 143 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe), the highest level since 2013.
Government funding of £500m is available for trials for homes using hydrogen, starting with a hydrogen neighbourhood in 2023, moving to a hydrogen village by 2025, with an aim for a hydrogen town before the end of the decade. Of this funding, £240m will be for hydrogen production facilities.
Rinnai has made data and information contributions, and had close consultations with the lead research agency primed with advising the UK government. ‘All questions and queries on the growing consensus on the suitability of hydrogen as the replacement for all fossil fuels will be answered by the hub,’ said Goggin.
‘Hydrogen can make a major contribution to decarbonising the UK energy grid, while also providing a sustainable answer to the political and societal questions of the energy trilemma. ‘The distribution of hydrogen creates a resolution to the trilemma questions and the very necessary decarbonisation of the UK energy grid.
Hydrogen can be potentially combusted through existing in situ appliances, complete with smart controls and cost-effective hardware and software upgrades as demonstrated by proprietary technology in hot water heating units.’