Hydrogen should not be ruled out as a home heating option, according to the Scottish government’s acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy.
Gillian Martin told the Scottish parliament that while the Climate Change Committee has ruled out hydrogen for home heating (see here), others have advocated for the role it could have in decarbonising existing gas infrastructure. She said: ‘I do not think we should rule anything out. We do not know what will happen in the future with regard to technologies.’
The Scotsman newspaper has reported that the Scottish government is reviving the idea of using hydrogen in home heating. In an interview with the newspaper, First Minister John Swinney said he is ‘very keen’ on the prospect that hydrogen home heating offers, describing it as ‘a really exciting opportunity’.
Swinney hailed Scotland’s first hydrogen-heated homes at Scottish Gas Networks’ H100 programme in Fife – currently the UK’s biggest trial project for the technology – as a ‘shining example’ of how the country is leading the way in solutions to tackle climate change.
But Gillian Campbell, co-director of The Existing Homes Alliance, urged the Scottish government to ‘stop being distracted by the prospect of hydrogen for heating and focus on tried and tested solutions’.
