Decarbonisation of the gas grid where practicable through conversion to hydrogen.
Currently, 85% of UK homes and around 705,000 homes in Ireland rely on the natural gas grid for heating. Repurposing the gas grid to transport clean hydrogen offers a low disruption option towards decarbonising the existing building stock.
Hydrogen is an energy carrier which can be created at volume. Both blue and green hydrogen offer zero carbon heat at the point of use.
Until the gas network and domestic boilers are ready to be converted to 100% hydrogen, a blend of 20% hydrogen into the natural gas mix we use today would substantially reduce carbon emissions. In fact, using a blend of natural gas and 20% hydrogen across the UK could save six million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to taking 2.5 million combustion engine cars off the road!
Baxi has been involved with the HyDeploy project at Keele, in which existing gas boilers have been running on a blend that includes up to 20% of hydrogen by volume for over a year. The extensive field trial has demonstrated the safe and effective use of blended hydrogen with current natural gas fired appliances.
The HyDeploy project will pave the way to larger scale deployment. In fact, the next phases for the HyDeploy and HyNet projects are expected to deliver a blended gas to over 2m properties in the North East and North West.
We have achieved independent certification for our Baxi 600, Baxi 800 and Baxi Assure ranges of gas boilers to run on a 20% hydrogen blend. Read more here
A hydrogen ready boiler is one that can be converted to work on 100% hydrogen during it’s service life using an approved conversion kit. The heating industry is waiting for the standards and certification framework to enable a product to be classified as hydrogen ready to be put in place.
We are actively involved with a number of projects that are demonstrating that it is technically possible, safe and convenient to replace natural gas with hydrogen in residential and commercial buildings and gas appliances.
Baxi is part of the Hello Hydrogen campaign to raise homeowners' awareness of hydrogen boilers and cookers that could be used to heat their homes in the future.
Gas distribution networks, other boiler manufacturers and energy suppliers have all joined forces for the campaign. Read more.
We took part in HyDeploy’s pioneering live demonstration of hydrogen in homes at Keele University, which proved that blending up to 20% volume of hydrogen with natural gas is a safe and greener alternative to the natural gas we use now as a bridge to pure hydrogen in the future.
Working with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Arup+ consortium we have developed and demonstrated pure hydrogen prototype combination and system boilers, proving that is technically possible, safe and convenient to replace natural gas with hydrogen in the home.
As part of the H21 project, we installed hydrogen fuelled boilers at ‘HyStreet’, in specially built demonstration houses at DNV’s specialist test site at Spadeadam in Northumberland. The site has been used to complete over 200 tests, researching and proving the safety of converting homes and gas networks to hydrogen.
We installed a Baxi hydrogen boiler in the nation’s first public showcase of a 100% Hydrogen Home demonstration, built in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and gas distribution network companies Cadent and Northern Gas Networks. It is part of a project to demonstrate the use of hydrogen-fuelled appliances in a real-world setting and signals a clear step in the progression of hydrogen technology for heating UK homes.
Baxi Heating is part of the Hydrogen Taskforce, a group of leading companies pushing hydrogen into the mainstream in the UK. Read the Hydrogen Taskforce report ‘The role of hydrogen in delivering Net Zero' here.
We are proud to support the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hydrogen. Established in July 2018 it is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers that is raising awareness of and building support for large scale hydrogen projects.
