Clean fuels are still far from being accepted in the country

Over the last few years, there has been a lot of talk about moving away from natural gas stoves to more ecological fuels. Some cities, such as New York and San Francisco, have banned gas hookups in new buildings in hopes of phasing out gas-powered heating and cooking. Meanwhile, some recent studies have found natural gas stoves to be unsafe in confined spaces such as tiny homes. However, some of the promoted alternatives, such as green hydrogen, are still far from being ready for commercial implementation. With governments and private companies investing heavily in the development of renewable fuels, how close are we to an alternative to natural gas for the home?

The obvious alternative to natural gas used in homes for heating and cooking is clean electricity, produced using renewable energy sources. However, governments and the private sector are exploring alternative solutions to ensure the development of a diversified energy mix. Solar, wind and other renewable energy projects are growing rapidly in several regions of the world, but most of the electricity generated from green sources is used for energy purposes. Therefore, if the green hydrogen and other renewable fuel sectors could be expanded to meet heating and cooking needs, this could reduce dependence on clean electricity producers.

A fuel that has received more attention in recent years is ecological hydrogen. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources to power an electrolysis process that separates hydrogen and oxygen in water. This process does not emit carbon dioxide, making it much cleaner than gray hydrogen obtained from fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency is encouraging the production of green hydrogen because it is a versatile energy carrier that can help decarbonize a range of sectors, including long-haul transport, chemicals and iron and steel, where reducing emissions has proven difficult, as well as cooking and heating in residential and commercial buildings.

Another industry that is gaining popularity is biofuels. Biogas is produced from raw materials such as animal waste and sludge from sewage treatment plants, which makes it renewable. The biofuel is expected to be useful in rural areas that have difficulty connecting to the grid. For example, bioethanol is already used as a clean cooking fuel in various parts of Asia and Africa. Ethanol stoves, using ethanol produced from crop residues or from crops destined for marginalized areas, have replaced the traditional use of biomass for cooking, which was harmful to both human health and the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, switching to ethanol stoves has helped improve indoor air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several low-income rural areas.

While some governments are enthusiastic about the potential use of green hydrogen and other renewable fuels in homes for heating and cooking, some experts are skeptical. Many critics believe that green hydrogen is too inefficient to be used to heat homes because a large amount of energy is lost in each step of the production process. While the average boiler has an efficiency of about 85 percent, electrolysis has an efficiency of about 80 percent, giving an overall efficiency of about 70 percent, with a loss of 30 percent of energy. For comparison, a heat pump powered by ecological electricity is much more efficient. One research review, which excludes industry-funded research, suggests that “it takes about five times more electricity to heat a home with hydrogen than to heat the same home with an efficient heat pump.”

Others are more concerned about the safety issues associated with burning green hydrogen in homes. Several utilities are seeking to combine hydrogen with fossil gas networks to gradually move towards a green transition. However, recent laboratory tests have shown that mixing up to 20% hydrogen with natural gas can lead to more leaks from common household appliances such as stoves and boilers. Boilers tested by British scientists at Enertek International showed an average 44 percent increase in emissions when using a mixture of hydrogen and gas, suggesting that mixing hydrogen with fossil fuels for use in residential homes will not reduce emissions and could be dangerous to consumers.

Recently, Comms Declare, an Australian climate communications group, lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate a case of potential “eco-shadowing” after the cooking show MasterChef promoted “renewable” hydrogen and biomethane. Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble said: “We believe hundreds of thousands of MasterChef fans will be fooled into thinking the gas used in the show is good for the planet… the biomethane and gray hydrogen used in the MasterChef kitchen is not renewable, not low carbon, not cost effective commercially viable and not available in ordinary Australian homes.” Declare stressed that the fuel used in the cooking program was gray hydrogen, which is not considered clean energy because it comes from natural gas.

While the future of clean fuels is very optimistic, it appears that we are still a long way from making green hydrogen, biofuels and other renewable gases commercially available for home use. Mixing renewable and natural gases using current infrastructure raises serious safety concerns and much more research needs to be done to deem clean fuels safe for home use. What’s more, governments and private companies are investing heavily in green hydrogen to support the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries, which means renewable electricity could be a better solution for residential heating and cooking.

Written by Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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