Mike Foster, CEO of Energy & Utilities Alliance has posted a stark reminder that ‘global warming isn’t some gentle bathing in summer sunshine, but catastrophic change to our climate.’ In the blog piece on the EUA website, Foster praises the recent announcement , by BEIS that together with Cadent and Northern Gas Networks, they were funding two demonstrator homes using 100 per cent hydrogen, for heating, hot water and cooking.
However, he writes: “The response of one energy industry leader was to sarcastically suggest BEIS took a photo of their electric induction hob, or their loft insulation. This then triggered a series of similar calls, snide remarks about snapping heat pumps, solid wall insulation – you get my drift. Now sending a sassy message on Twitter may win plaudits in the echo chamber of social media, but it doesn’t engage the consumer in one of the most challenging aspects of tackling climate change. This isn’t a game but something much more serious.”
Foster also reminds the reader that trails of hydrogen can be a time consuming process and that it takes patience to bring such technologies to fruition, saying: “So demonstrator homes with hydrogen; trials of blending hydrogen; developments of hydrogen villages whilst safety cases are tested in labs across the country. This is the serious side of decarbonisation. It takes time, resources and yes, a little patience too. But the gas industry has been working for UK consumers for two hundred years, and it will do so long after the last echoes of opposition have faded away.”
