The north-east is to be used as a testing ground in a pioneering project to prove if hydrogen could be deployed at scale to eliminate emissions from the UK’s energy system. Scottish Gas Network (SGN) and Pale Blue Dot, the firm behind a clean energy system at the St Fergus gas terminal, have launched an “Aberdeen vision” to deliver up to 100% hydrogen through the city’s regional gas system to power homes, via the plant near Peterhead. The study will also assess whether an unprecedented move could be carried out to blend at least two percent hydrogen with gas through the older national network serving the wider UK.
Energy Voice 10th Oct 2018 read more »
Press and Journal 10th Oct 2018 read more »
Even if they are unaware of the significance of their journey, passengers on the Coradia iLint are nevertheless pioneers in the green train movement, as some of the first people to board the world’s first commercial passenger train running purely on hydrogen. It’s just the start of a wider rollout in the area. Alstom is scheduled to deliver 14 more trains, and a permanent refilling depot, in Lower Saxony by 2021. And it’s just the beginning of what the train builder hopes will be nothing short of a hydrogen revolution in the world of train travel. With less than 50 per cent of the rail network electrified and a similar reliance on diesel trains to service its smaller ‘feeder’ routes, the UK is the next country in Alstom’s crosshairs. The policy conditions appear promising – in February the UK government announced an ambition to eliminate diesel powered trains from its network by 2040, but just months earlier ditched plans to electrify swathes of the rail network, citing cost concerns. That controversial decision may mean more pollution in the short term, but it could also open the door for hydrogen. To give hydrogen trains a head start in the UK, Muldoon wants to see the government prioritising hydrogen power when it considers rail franchise bids. “We need to see the introduction of this technology to be a winning factor in future franchises,” he argues. “Not something that is lost in detailed models, but a real challenge to industry to actually bring it forward.”
Business Green 10th Oct 2018 read more »