The Alberta government is looking to incorporate hydrogen heating into blended gas for homes, in proposed legislation tabled by Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, Canadian Press reported April 10.
The bill would allow utilities to blend hydrogen into natural gas supplies. Alberta has an estimated annual production of about 2.4 million tonnes of hydrogen.
Legislation Aims to Provide Choice and Safety for Hydrogen Heating
Customers will need to approve the use of blended gas before receiving it, CP said. Utilities will only be able to charge customers receiving the blended gas for the service, and not spread the costs to all customers.
“It’s about choice, it’s about safety, and it’s about providing the correct parameters to allow a new and innovative technology and product to continue to evolve within the province,” Neudorf said.
Because hydrogen is flammable and more unstable than methane, Neudorf has set a 5 percent limit on the amount of hydrogen to be used in the mix for hydrogen heating. Utility provider ATCO has also used the 5 percent threshold for the pilot project in blended fuel in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, which has providing more than 2,000 homes and businesses with the blended hydrogen heating fuel.
Hydrogen Heating’s Role in Reducing Emissions Remains Debated
A 2023 report from the University of Alberta found that blending natural gas with 15% hydrogen would reduce the province’s greenhouse gas emissions by only 5%, and would likely make home heating more expensive.
Experts Question Hydrogen Heating’s Efficiency
However, hydrogen analysts told Climate Insider that hydrogen heating for home energy was not the best use of the resource.
“Hydrogen takes a lot of energy use – you’re going to invest more energy in creating it, than you’re going to get from it,” FC Architects’ Director of Technologies and Impact Magnolia Tovar said.
“We need to use it where we need it the most: food security, fuels production (moving people and goods), and nascent sectors like steel.”
Hydrogen heating for homes does not make sense, she said.
“When you look at the numbers, you’ll see that a heat pump is much more efficient.”
The Alberta legislation is also planning to undertake a system overhaul of the electricity market, but many details are still being finalized.
