The role of hydrogen for decarbonising dispersed industry sites in the UK

Hydrogen production in the UK is likely to increase substantially in the next decade for use in industry, homes and transport as part of efforts to meet the net-zero greenhouse gas target for 2050 (HM Government 2021). The Government's Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution sets a target of 5 GW of low carbon hydrogen production by 2030 and the Government calculates that the growth of low carbon hydrogen could deliver savings of 41 MtCO2e between 2023 and 2032 (HM Government, 2020). There is a significant body of research on different forms of low carbon hydrogen production and some of these technologies are now ready for commercial deployment. In contrast, there is still research needed on downstream applications of hydrogen, including techno-economic assessments of the most promising hydrogen using technologies in different sectors of the economy and their wider implications (Griffiths, 2021). This research aims to help fill this gap, by exploring the role of hydrogen in decarbonising so called "dispersed" industry sites. These sites are not part of large industrial clusters, which are the current focus of government efforts to decarbonise industry and yet are responsible for around half of total UK industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Key research questions will include:

What are the most important hydrogen technologies relevant for dispersed industrial sites and what further research, development and demonstration do they need?
How do these hydrogen technologies compare in terms of cost and performance and how might these change in the future?
What wider drivers and barriers will affect their deployment?
What are the likely volumes of hydrogen needed for decarbonising the selected industry sectors?
What are the likely CO2 savings from the use of hydrogen?
What opportunities are there for hydrogen generation from industrial waste streams?
What are the implications for the existing gas networks of hydrogen use at dispersed sites?
What would be the upstream infrastructure implications of deploying these technologies?

This research will be important in informing the longer-term opportunities for hydrogen to help decarbonise a broad swathe of UK industry, outside the traditional focus on a limited number of highly energy intensive sectors. Scenarios in the UK's Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy show that without the use of hydrogen and CCS decarbonise dispersed sites, industrial emissions could be more than three times higher by 2050. This research will provide important insights to inform Government policy on the development of hydrogen and industrial decarbonisation. It could also help inform the wider hydrogen research community in terms of priority areas for technology research and development, as well broader socio-technical issues.

This project will mainly sit with the EPSRC research area of hydrogen and alternative energy vectors, addressing priorities such as:
Incorporating hydrogen into infrastructure and linking hydrogen into energy systems;
Using hydrogen as industrial feedstock and for industrial heating.
Links to the social science community to gain a better understanding of the sociotechnical and economic factors involved in hydrogen as an energy resource.

The research also has links to other EPSRC research areas including fuel cell research and energy networks.

References
Griffiths, S; Sovacool; BK; Kim, J; Bazilian, M; Uratani, JM. 2021. Industrial decarbonization via hydrogen: A critical and systematic review of developments, socio-technical systems and policy options, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 80, 102208.

HM Government (2020) The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. Building back better, supporting green jobs, and accelerating our path to net zero.

HM Government (2021) Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, CP399.