Nathan Walker
The UK Government has committed to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 and has targets to cut emissions by 78% by 2035 in comparison to levels in 1990. Over the last year, the 10 Point Plan and Energy White Paper have outlined the path to Net Zero, and Hydrogen is a key feature of both. Hydrogen offers ways to decarbonise by replacing fossil fuels in various sectors, replace natural gas in some industrial processes, and can be used in heating for some commercial and residential housing, but requires large amounts of water to produce.
The production and use of Hydrogen to lower carbon emissions has seeped into the water sector and with good reason. Global water utilities are currently responsible for almost 2% of greenhouse gas emissions and by 2040 it is expected to double (Water UK, 2021), largely due to the escalating demand for wastewater treatment and higher levels of treatment (Walker et al., 2021). Companies such as Scottish Water and Severn Trent are beginning to produce Hydrogen by using electrolysers in their wastewater and are exploring processing ammonia into Nitrogen and Hydrogen. Whereas the Water Corporation of Western Australia have scaled operations up to produce 100 tonnes of fuel-grade Hydrogen by converting their biogas (Brears, 2021).
Despite the positives of Hydrogen lowering carbon emissions, a wider future hydrogen economy could also have an impact on the water industry. Water UK’s Net Zero 2030 Roadmap stated that ‘if hydrogen emerges as an alternative fuel then water demand would increase 15-20%’. This could cause significant issues for the sector. In some areas of the UK, water is already becoming scarce and will become scarcer in coming years in response to a changing climate (Dallison et al., 2021); therefore, how will the sector keep up with Hydrogen demand on top of normal demand?
This poses huge challenges, which only an inter-disciplinary and cross-sector approach can overcome, which requires input from government departments and regulators too. Only by communicating and planning cross-sector could ensures be made on the availability of water supply to be in the right place at the right time and right volumes. It is clear that the future of hydrogen is exciting and has a significant role to play in the UK’s Net Zero strategy, and the water industry must be a part of the strategy to ensure a successful rollout.
The Dŵr Uisce project researches many aspects covering water supply, treatment, and use, and the interplay with energy consumption and production, so be sure to keep an eye on developments here on the website or by signing up to the newsletter at the bottom of the homepage.
References
Brears, R. (2021) Water Utilities and the Hydrogen-Water-Climate Nexus. Available online: https://medium.com/mark-and-focus/water-utilities-and-the-hydrogen-water-climate-nexus-fc5671121e8d
Dallison, R. J. H. Patil, S. D. and Williams, A. P. (2021) ‘Impacts of climate change on future water availability for hydropower and public water supply in Wales, UK’, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies., 36, pp. 100866. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100866
Water UK (2021) World Water Day 2021: Global water community challenged to join the Race to Zero. Available online: https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/world-water-day-2021-global-water-community-challenged-to-join-the-race-to-zero/
Water UK (2021) 2030 Imagined. Available online: https://www.water.org.uk/routemap2030/
Walker, N. L., Williams, A. P. and Styles, D. (2021) ‘Pitfalls in international benchmarking of energy intensity across wastewater treatment utilities’, J. Environ. Manag., 300, pp. 113613. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113613