The Economic Case For Hydrogen In Domestic Heating
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Chemical Engineer.
The Wikipedia entry for The Chemical Engineer has this introductory paragraph.
The Chemical Engineer is a monthly chemical engineering technical and news magazine published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). It has technical articles of interest to practitioners and educators, and also addresses current events in world of chemical engineering including research, international business news and government policy as it affects the chemical engineering community. The magazine is sent to all members of the IChemE and is included in the cost of membership. Some parts of the magazine are available free online, including recent news and a series of biographies “Chemical Engineers who Changed the World”, although the core and the archive magazine is available only with a subscription. The online magazine also has freely available podcasts.
It is a source on the Internet, where anything non-scientifically correct will be unlikely to appear.
The article has two introductory sub-headings.
Despite its thermodynamic disadvantages, global energy technology specialist Thomas Brewer believes hydrogen has an economic and efficient role in domestic heating. It forced him to deviate from his usual mantra of ‘efficiency above all else’ to get there, though
The work of decarbonisation by chemical engineers is about how we can cost effectively enable our organisations’ transition away from fossil fuels. This requires foresight. A decision chemical engineers make on a project with a 20-year lifespan will still be operational in 2045, when in most global locations, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles will probably be in the minority and grid electricity will be mostly renewable.
This is the first actual paragraph.
It is unsurprising, therefore, that chemical engineers are researching and debating the prospects of the future of energy availability from renewables, and the likely role and cost of hydrogen. There is much public noise surrounding the conversation about heat pumps vs hydrogen for domestic heating. I have noticed how few articles are written from an unbiased perspective, how very few reports talk about the whole solution, and authors avoid quantifying the financial impact of their proposed solution. I couldn’t find an unbiased study with any financial logic, so, I built a model to assess the options, for my own interests. I found the results so intriguing that I wanted to share them.
In other words, let the data do the talking and accept what it tells you.
These are some extracts from the article.
On Curtailment
The article says this on curtailment of wind energy, because you are generating too much.
Efficient electrical energy storage is expensive, which has traditionally led renewable system designers to include curtailment as a part of their design. Curtailment involves oversizing the wind supply to be higher than the grid connection to reduce the need for as much energy storage, and deliberately wasting the occasional electrical excess. The system design becomes an economical balance between oversizing the renewable generation and paying for additional electrical storage. Within the UK grid in 2023, curtailment is a small factor. As electrification and wind power become more mainstream, the financial decision between investing in excess wind vs electrical storage will lead curtailment to become a more significant factor.
Curtailment is to me a practice, that should be consigned to the dustbin of history.
To eliminate it, as much storage as is needed storage must be provided.
Eliminate Naked Flames In The Kitchen
The article says this about eliminating naked gas flames (natural gas or hydrogen) in the kitchen.
Figure 1 shows that the recommended standard of hydrogen gas installation if removing kitchen gas cooking would result in less injuries than the existing natural gas installation if cooking were converted to induction heating. Kitchen leaks are more likely than boiler leaks due to the number of valves and connections, regardless of the gas type. NOx emissions in the home because of naked flames in the kitchen are also of concern to the health of the occupants and hydrogen naked flames have a higher NOx emission than natural gas; another reason to eliminate naked flame cooking.
When I was financing the development of what became the Respimat inhaler, I did my due scientific diligence and found research from a Russell Group University, that naked flames (including smoking) were a cause of asthma, especially in children.
My recommendation is that, at an appropriate time in the near future, you replace your gas cooker with an electric one. My ginger-haired Glaswegian friend, who is a chef, who’s had Michelin stars would recommend an electric induction cooker.
Pumped Storage
The article says this about building more pumped storage.
The pumped storage assumption is based on the SSE proposal for Coire Glas, a 30 GWh £1.5bn storage system in Scotland which will more than double the UK’s current pumped storage capacity. The capital cost of this pumped storage system is about £50/kWh which will be delivered at about 80% efficiency. Pumped storage is a good balance between low cost and high efficiency. However, it requires natural resources. The Mott MacDonald report, Storage cost and technical assumptions for BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) suggests the equivalent of four Coire Glas-scale installations in the UK by 2050. The model optimistically assumes that ten more similar additional Coire Glas-size pumped storage schemes could be installed.
This page on the Strathclyde University web site, gives these GWh figures for the possible amounts of pumped-storage that can be added to existing hydroelectric schemes.
Strathclyde’s total for extra storage is over 500 GWh.
Distributed Batteries
The article says this about distributed batteries.
A distributed battery assumption could be configured with multiple 10 kWh batteries which typically cost about £3,000 installed, near or in homes with a heat pump. This could be coupled with larger battery storage systems like the £30m Chapel Farm 99 MWh battery installation near Luton, commissioned in 2023. The small battery systems at each home are similar to the proposed virtual power plants using electric vehicle battery capacity to help balance the grid. Placing these batteries at locations with grid limitations could reduce the costs of upgrading the grid system. This is a more expensive energy storage scheme than pump storage and for the purposes of the model it is assumed that battery storage schemes are limitless. In both cases cited, the cost is £300/kWh. Battery efficiency varies significantly with temperature, and typically ranges from about 90% to 97%. As the system design needs to be focused on the coldest periods, the model is optimistically assuming 93% efficiency, which would require many of the batteries to be in a heated environment.
New lower-cost alternative batteries are also being developed.
Hydrogen Generation
The article says this about hydrogen generation.
Alternatively, the electricity generated from wind energy could be used in the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. While the fully installed electrolysis equipment costs about £2,100/kW, hydrogen storage in specially built cylinders is relatively cheap at about £23/kWh. The model, however, assumes salt mine storage which the US DoE in their report, Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost, calculate at a total system cost for hydrogen of $2/kWh. Electrolysis is the least efficient energy storage option, with a conversion efficiency of 75%, including compression. The waste heat from this conversion loss is useful for industrial heating, or in a district heating system. This has been ignored for simplicity.
Pumped storage, distributed batteries and hydrogen electrolysers distributed all over the UK, will mop up all the spare electricity and release it to heat pumps and for charging cars as necessary.
The hydrogen will be used for heating, to decarbonise difficult-to-decarbonise industries and provide fuel for hydrogen-powered vehicles, railways and shipping.
Curtailment will be a thing of the past.
The UK Offshore Wind Potential
The article says this about the UK offshore wind potential.
The UK government target for wind generation by 2030 is 50 GW. The UK offshore wind potential is reliable and available and has been estimated to be as high as 2,200 GW. There are, however, a few low wind periods that can last for several days.
I am not going to argue with 2,200 GW, but I will say that a lot of that will be used to generate hydrogen offshore.
Conclusions
This is the article’s main conclusion.
A wind-based supply for heating will mean that large quantities of potentially unused electricity will be available for more than 90% of the year, for potentially very low cost. While this could appear wasteful, it provides further synergistical opportunities for the decarbonisation of other interruptible energy duties, such as production of hydrogen for road transport or supplying heat via heat pumps for interruptible industries.
The sensitivity analysis shows that these conclusions are robust even with significant variation in the assumptions on equipment cost, efficiency, and other electricity source options.
This is also said about the most cost-effective solution.
A cost-effective national heat pump-only solution is about £500bn (50%) more expensive than a hydrogen-only boiler solution. The most cost-effective system is a combination of the two, £100bn cheaper than the hydrogen-only solution, and £600bn cheaper than the heat pump-only solution.
A cost-effective national heat pump-only solution has a system efficiency 40% lower than the hydrogen-only solution, requiring more than 750 GW of installed wind capacity. A hydrogen boiler solution requires less than 500 GW but the most efficient system, however, is a combination of the two.
The conclusions mean that everybody will be able to use the most appropriate solution for their circumstances for both heating their housing or powering their vehicles, as there will be massive supplies of affordable electricity and hydrogen.
How Will Everything Be Paid For?
Just as Germany and others built its industry on cheap Russian gas, it will now choose to use the plentiful and reliable UK electricity and hydrogen to rebuild its industry.
University Of Leeds Drills Test Boreholes For Geothermal Project To Heat Campus
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ground Engineering.
This is the sub-heading.
A team of researchers at the University of Leeds has started to test the potential to use geothermal energy to heat buildings on campus in a bid to tackle its carbon emissions.
These three paragraphs outline the project.
The project involves drilling eight test boreholes into the ground at several locations on the campus at depths of between 150m to 250m. Work started last Monday (29 January) and will continue until May 2024.
Some of the holes will be water wells at around 50cm in diameter that will look for underground aquifers at the right temperature to use for geothermal heat. Other holes will be monitoring wells at around 15cm in diameter which the team will use to check what impact extracting heat from the ground has on the surrounding areas.
The geothermal project brings together the team responsible for the maintenance and development of the University estate and an academic team which includes professor of geo-energy engineering Fleur Loveridge, research fellow in geosolutions David Barns and lecturer in applied geophysics and structural geology Emma Bramham.
The Wikipedia entry for Geothermal Energy In The United Kingdom, is a very informing and ultimately surprising read.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The potential for exploiting geothermal energy in the United Kingdom on a commercial basis was initially examined by the Department of Energy in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Several regions of the country were identified, but interest in developing them was lost as petroleum prices fell. Although the UK is not actively volcanic, a large heat resource is potentially available via shallow geothermal ground source heat pumps, shallow aquifers and deep saline aquifers in the mesozoic basins of the UK. Geothermal energy is plentiful beneath the UK, although it is not readily accessible currently except in specific locations.
With more projects like that at the University of Leeds and the development of better technology, I am confident that over the next few years, we will extract more heat from beneath our feet.
Bruce Grove Station Restored To 1872 Glory
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Renovations at Tottenham’s Bruce Grove Station have breathed life into its disused rooms and paid homage to its Victorian history.
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Following structural repairs, the London Overground station now has a new community space and waiting room.
Haringey Council has worked in partnership with others to improve the station and its accessibility.
Work was completed in December 2023 and arrangements for using the community space will be finalised soon.
These are pictures I took this morning.
Note.
- The work is to a very high standard.
- Two rooms have been refurbished.
Other stations probably have rooms like these, that could be refurbished.
Gravitricity Weighs Up One Of Europe’s Deepest Mines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-heading.
Scotland’s Gravitricity is set to deploy its underground energy storage technology at Pyhäsalmi Mine in central Finland, Europe’s deepest zinc and copper mine.
These two paragraphs outline the scheme.
Located about 450km north of the Finnish capital Helsinki, the Pyhäsalmi Mine extends 1,444m below the Earth. With mine operations at Pyhäsalmi winding down, the local community set up a development company to explore redevelopment projects around the mine’s infrastructure, including energy storage.
Gravitricity is set to deploy its GraviStore energy storage technology in a 530m deep auxiliary shaft. GraviStore can utilise off-peak electricity by raising heavy weights in the mine shaft, releasing the energy back on to the grid during high demand by lowering the weights. It’s claimed the 2MW scheme at Pyhäsalmi will provide grid balancing services to the Finnish network.
There is also this quote from Martin Wright,who is Gravitricity’s executive chairman.
This project will demonstrate at full scale how our technology can offer reliable long life energy storage that can capture and store energy during periods of low demand and release it rapidly when required.
This full-scale project will provide a pathway to other commercial projects and allow our solution to be embedded into mine decommissioning activities, offering a potential future for mines approaching the end of their original service life.
Can it be that Gravitricity is finally on its way?
Battery Traction Trial Ahead As TransPennine Express Fortunes Improve
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
This is the sub-heading.
Overcrowding and short-notice cancellations at state-owned TransPennine Express have declined since the December timetable change, prompting Managing Director Chris Jackson to suggest the operator is in a ‘better place’.
It is a must-read article and the section called Battery Power Trial, says this.
Meanwhile, the Class 802 trainset which was damaged in a shunting accident in March 2022 remains out of traffic. Although No 802 207 has now been repaired, it will not be returning to service yet, as it is receiving modifications for use as a battery testbed.
This will see a 6 m long, 2·2 m wide battery module installed in place of one of the existing engines, which will improve fuel efficiency by using two diesel powerpacks rather than three.
The battery module will provide top-up power for peak demand and give regenerative braking capability when operating in diesel mode, which the trains currently do not have. Arrival and departure at stations is also to be trialled in battery mode to assess noise and air-quality improvements. The train is planned to re-enter traffic in December.
‘We’re supplying that unit to support what we think is a sensible industry scheme to look at whether we can do something to move from bi-mode to tri-mode, which could be beneficial for the industry from a green perspective’, Jackson confirms.
That looks to be a good plan, but I can’t help feeling that battery power for the Class 802 trains has been a long time coming.
This press release from Hitachi is entitled Hitachi And Eversholt Rail To Develop GWR Intercity Battery Hybrid Train – Offering Fuel Savings Of More Than 20%, which announced the project was published on the 15th December 2020.
It will be four years from when Hitachi and Eversholt Rail said go, before the prototype is running.
Is this why LNER bought their new trains from CAF?
Designing A Battery-Powered Mountain Goat
When I wrote Up To Ebbw Vale From Newport, this comment was posted.
I’m not surprised that the Class 150 train, had no difficulty in climbing up to Ebbw Vale Town. The max gradient is around 1 in 65. There are plenty of places in Britain where gradients are steeper and indeed part of the type test for all dmus was to climb the 2 mile, 1 in 37.7 Lickey Incline starting a couple of hundred metres before the beginning of the slope.
It certainly got me thinking.
Could a line like Newport and Ebbw Vale be decarbonised, by simply fitting batteries to an appropriately-sized electric train?
- The battery would be charged using the 25 KVAC overhead electrification in Newport station.
- The train would climb the hill to Ebbw Vale Town on battery power.
- Coming down the regenerative braking would charge the battery.
- Once in the platform at Newport station, the battery would be topped up, to the level needed to climb the hill, from the existing electrification.
The question is can the train carry enough juice in a battery?
I will work the example through with a three-car Class 331 train.
- I have chosen a Class 331 train, as CAF have a factory in Newport.
- The train weighs 30.48 tonnes.
- It has 213 seats.
- If I assume that each passenger is 80 Kg including baggage, bikes and buggies, that gives a mass of 17.04 tonnes or a total mass of 47.08 tonnes.
- The difference in altitude between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport is 764 feet.
Using Omni’s Potential Energy Calculator, that gives a value of 29.9 kWh.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks from Newport to Pye Corner.
Note.
- Red tracks are electrified and black ones are not.
- Newport station is in the North-East corner of the map, with the South Wales Main Line running through.
- Pye Corner station is marked by the blue arrow and is the first station on the climb to Ebbw Vale.
- The unelectrified Ebbw Vale branch has a triangular junction with the electrified South Wales Main Line.
- The electrification continues for a short way towards Pye Corner and goes all the way to Newport and Cardiff.
- Trains take 24 minutes to turn round in Newport.
- Newport and Ebbw Vale Town is about twenty miles.
It can be safely said that trains will start their climb to Ebbw Vale with a full battery.
What Battery Size Will Be Needed?
I don’t think it will be that large and it will be the smallest battery, that could take a train up the hill.
As part of the climb is double track, the up track could be electrified to enable a smaller battery to be used, which would mean less power would be needed, due to the lower weight.
Conclusion
I believe that it will be possible to fit CAF’s Class 331 trains with a battery large enough to take a train up the hill to Ebbw Vale Town.
Ebbw Vale Town Station – 3rd February 2024
I took these pictures as Ebbw Vale Town station.
Note.
- There is a cableway to the main town.
- But t wasn’t working as it was Saturday.
- There is a large college.
- There was no information, as to how to get to the town.
- The Cardiff and Newport trains alternate every half hour.
The area certainly needed better information and perhaps a cafe, so that commuters can buy a coffee for their journey!
These are my thoughts.
The Capacity Of Ebbw Vale Town Station
According to this page on the Network Rail web site, the single platform at Ebbw Vale Town station is approximately 150 metres in length to fit up to six train carriages.
As at the current time, services are run by two- or three-car, it would appear that if a train failed in the station, the platform is long enough to accommodate another train to continue the services.
In the Wikipedia entry for Ebbw Vale Town station, it is indicated that a second platform could be built. There is certainly enough space.
Operation Of Ebbw Vale Town Station
I was at Ebbw Vale Town station for nearly two hours and I watched three Newport and two Cardiff trains arrive and leave every half-hour.
- I had arrived on the first train from Newport.
- The Cardiff trains were busy with passengers for the rugby.
- I took the third Newport train, so I could catch my train back to Reading.
- The system seemed to be working well.
Is there another single-platform station on a branch line, that serves two main line stations alternatively every half hour?
Increasing Capacity To Ebbw Vale Town Station
In Designing A Battery-Powered Mountain Goat, I stated that I believe that a small fleet of CAF’S Class 331 trains fitted with batteries could handle the Cardiff and Newport services to Ebbw Vale Town.
The sight and the curiosity of battery-electric trains climbing up the hills will certainly create more traffic on the route.
The simple solution is to lengthen the trains and that is easy at the moment, as the services are run using Class 150 trains with a Class 153 to add extra capacity, where needed.
But could a half-hourly service be run to both Cardiff and Newport?
This would double the capacity and make it more user friendly.
Nothing is said on the Internet about whether this is possible on not, but I believe that with modern digital signalling and battery-electric trains, with better performance than the elderly British Rail-era diesels, that it would be possible to run a half-hourly service to both Cardiff and Newport.
Conclusion
I believe that Network Rail have done a good job in designing this scheme.
City Of London: Skyscraper As Tall As The Shard Planned
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A skyscraper the same height as The Shard is being planned for London.
These are the first three paragraphs.
One Undershaft would reach 74-storeys, according to revised plans submitted to City of London Corporation.
The amended proposals include a new stepped design instead of a previous rectangular shape, with the building initially receiving approval in 2016.
A public consultation has taken place on the proposals, which would see London’s highest public viewing gallery at the top of the skyscraper.
This Google Map shows the site.
Note.
- One Undershaft is indicated by the red arrow.
- The Gherkin is next door.
- This web page shows the architect’s visualisation.
I don’t think it will a sore thumb like The Shard, which intrudes into so many London views.
West London Orbital: Line Could Be Reused For Passengers
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A railway line that stopped serving passengers in 1902 could be brought back into use as a route called the West London Orbital.
These are the first three paragraphs.
The Dudding Hill loop runs from Acton to Cricklewood and currently only takes freight trains.
Transport for London (TfL) published a strategic document in 2021 saying it would be “a catalyst for relieving road congestion in west London”.
It is estimated by TfL more than 11 million people a year would use it.
This is also said.
Sharma Tatler, the deputy leader of Brent Council, called the plan “a no-brainer”.
I agree with that.
These are my thoughts.
Finding The Money
Money will be needed for the following.
- To build and update the stations on the route.
- To acquire the new trains needed.
- To bring the track and signalling up to the required standard.
Note.
- It appears that around a dozen freight trains use the route on a typical day.
- Hopefully, Network Rail can come up with an affordable plan for the track and signalling, as the route is used by freight trains at the present time.
- I would envisage that the trains used would be a version of the current Class 710 trains used on the Overground. These could probably be leased.
I wouldn’t be surprised that the cost of the stations, will be the major part of the building of the line.
Building the stations is probably, the easiest place to bring in private finance. Especially, if stations incorporated housing or other developments.
On a train going to the North a few years ago, I met two infrastructure funders from L & G (in Standard Class), who were going to lend a company 50 billion to develop a large residential housing site. We got talking and I asked them if they would develop a mythical branch line with a good station site at the end. (Think Felixstowe!) I asked if they’d fund housing and possibly the trains. They said yes!
So I suspect that the West London Orbital could also be funded in the same way, as there are a few stations to build and upgrade. Much needed housing could be built on top or nearby.
I would also deck-over Neasden Depot and build housing in town blocks on top.
I believe that the West London Orbital could be funded.
Electrification
The Wikipedia entry for the West London Orbital describes the route like this.
The route would run for approximately 11 miles (17 km) from West Hampstead and Hendon at the northern end to Hounslow at the western end via Brent Cross West, Neasden, Harlesden, Old Oak Common, South Acton and Brentford.
Note.
- There is 25 KVAC overhead electrification at the Northern end of the route between West Hampstead Thameslink and Hendon stations.
- The Dudding Hill Line between the Midland Main Line and Acton Wells Junction is not electrified.
- The North London Line between Acton Wells Junction and Acton Central station is electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.
South of Acton Central station, the electrification gets complicated as this OpenRailwayMap shows.
Note.
- Acton Central station is in the North-East corner of the map.
- Brentford station is in the South-West corner of the map.
- The red track is electrified with 25 KVAC overhead and it is used North of Acton Central station.
- Mauve track is electrified with British Rail third rail.
- Ptnk track is electrified with London Underground third rail.
- Black track is not electrified.
- West London Orbital trains between West Hampstead Thameslink and Hounslow will use the direct route between Acton Central and Brentford.
- West London Orbital trains between Hendon and Kew Bridge terminate at the South-Eastern point of the triangular junction.
It seems that trains will be needed that can use both types of electrification and none.
New Trains
Because of the requirement of the trains to be able to use both types of electrification and be self-powered, the trains will either have hydrogen or battery power to augment electric traction.
Hendon and Hounslow is 11.3 miles and this will be longer than any service distances, so I suspect that a battery-electric train could handle the route.
In this article in Global Rail News from 2011, which is entitled Bombardier’s AVENTRA – A new era in train performance, gives some details of the Aventra’s electrical systems. This is said.
AVENTRA can run on both 25kV AC and 750V DC power – the high-efficiency transformers being another area where a heavier component was chosen because, in the long term, it’s cheaper to run. Pairs of cars will run off a common power bus with a converter on one car powering both. The other car can be fitted with power storage devices such as super-capacitors or Lithium-ion batteries if required. The intention is that every car will be powered although trailer cars will be available.
Unlike today’s commuter trains, AVENTRA will also shut down fully at night. It will be ‘woken up’ by remote control before the driver arrives for the first shift
This was published over ten years ago, so I suspect Bombardier (or now Alstom) have refined the concept.
Bombardier have not announced that any of their trains have energy storage, but I have my suspicions, that both the Class 345 and Class 710 Aventra trains use super-capacitors or lithium-ion batteries, as part of their traction system design.
- I was told by a Bombardier driver-trainer that the Class 345 trains have an emergency power supply. When I said “Batteries?”, He gave a knowing smile.
- From the feel of riding on Class 710 trains, as a Control Engineer, I suspect there is a battery or supercapacitor in the drive system to give a smoother ride.
I also feel that the Aventra has been designed, so that it can accept power from a large variety of sources, which charge the battery, that ultimately drives the train.
Up To Ebbw Vale From Newport
I took these pictures as my train climbed the hill up to Ebbw Vale Town station.
Note.
- The Class 150 train, that I was in had no difficulty in climbing up to Ebbw Vale Town.
- The dtations and track appeared in good condition.
- The weather was getting wetter, which didn’t help the pictures.
It’s a typical South Wales valley packed with houses and factories and with a small river and a few chapels an rugby pitches through in.
The Anonymous Widower 