Hydrogen Solutions - Hy4heat
At Reznor, we’re at the forefront of innovation, consistently developing new products and solutions that provide more efficient ways of creating comfortable environments. Innovation and developing our future is important to us, to keep moving forwards with the times and continue to be leaders in our industry. We had the privilege of pioneering the engineering of new industrial warm air and radiant tube heating products as part of Hy4heat, a UK government sponsored project which aims to drive the net zero future
So why Hydrogen?
The concept of hydrogen replacing natural gas in the mainstream gas main was first considered by the UK government in 2012. Other European countries took an interest around a similar time and many projects have since been commissioned to determine the feasibility of using hydrogen as a low carbon replacement for natural gas.
Hydrogen has proven feasible and preferable as a solution for heating most UK buildings, and decisions taken in 2026 will set the UK on a path to converting most of the national gas grid to hydrogen by 2050. The Hy4Heat project aimed to establish, if it is technically possible, safe and convenient, to replace natural gas with hydrogen in residential and commercial buildings and gas appliances.
Whilst creating a more sustainable future is important, there will be legal requirements in place which every company in the UK will need to reduce their carbon footprint. In June 2019, the UK Government passed legislation to make Net Zero CO2 by 2050 a legally binding target. Decarbonisation is therefore a key policy and hydrogen is seen as the only viable way to continue to operate a major national gas grid in the longer term. In November 2020, Boris Johnson the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom published a ‘Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution’ and Point 2 is ‘Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen’.
How are we using Hydrogen in our Future Development?
So far, we have successfully converted 2 warm air heaters and a radiant tube heater to work successfully on 100% hydrogen which include the Vision Radiant Heater.
Ian Miller, Engineering Manager at Nortek commented “We are both excited and delighted to have been part of this successful selection process, working in a consortium to provide a solution to the climate crisis we are facing and not just providing a solution for the UK. As part of this mission we are working with Hy4Heat and governments and other institutions worldwide to adopt an alternative to natural gas, this is in addition to our £0.5m investment in developments during 2020 to reduce the emissions of our current products”.
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