As heavy goods vehicle manufacturers and car makers including Toyota and BMW continue to develop green hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains, a new trial aims to determine whether the natural gas grid can be used to efficiently transport hydrogen to filling stations around the UK. The use of existing infrastructure offers clear cost savings and could drive growth in the UK's hydrogen fuel network, potentially making hydrogen cars more viable in the longer term.
The UK’s National Transmission System (NTS) for natural gas extends across the majority of the country, and equipment capable of injecting hydrogen gas into the pipelines has already been developed. It has also been determined that the NTS can safely carry a blend of natural gas containing up to 20 per cent low carbon hydrogen, as gas companies and the government look to save millions of tons of C02 emissions from domestic heating boilers that are in future likely to run on a mix of fossil-fuel gas and low carbon Hydrogen. The low carbon hydrogen would be produced from renewable sources including wind power and nuclear (green hydrogen), but also from fossil fuels using carbon capture technology (blue hydrogen).
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