Deja Review
Deja Review
Previously published on LinkedIn, January 13, 2023
I have reproduced this set of (11 plus 2) articles here is because I reference them in some of my other series on hydrogen. They are yet to be published. Although it is non-essential I wanted to have it here for completeness and decided to get them out of drafts.
Reading this article: Hydrogen for heating | UK walks back pledge that 'no-one will have a gas boiler ripped out of their home' | Hydrogen news and intelligence (hydrogeninsight.com)
I got the feeling that I had commented on these exact points before.
And I had.
How can Hydrogen Insight, a publication supposedly well versed in the nuance of hydrogen, possibly consider it a reasonable expectation, that a customer can retain their access to natural gas, after their local infrastructure has been converted to hydrogen?
The alternative to hydrogen in that case is electric heating which also means 'no gas'. That is the reality and it is one that is being ignored by those organisations and publications who are actively trying to undermine domestic hydrogen initiatives.
I feel so strongly about Hydrogen Insight's role in exploiting the understandable concerns of the public that this week, I deconstructed an article by one of their contributors; there was so much wrong with that it took 13,500 words across nine articles to lay it bare. That is the problem with misinformation; easy to put up but tricky to debunk. It is difficult to prove a negative, but guess what, it is hard to disprove one as well.
That particular article also included some entirely wrong claims about NOx (confusing it with nitrous oxide and misunderstanding its role in radiative forcing) that are still being perpetuated in other Hydrogen Insight articles. I have been told that this was added by the editor of Hydrogen Insight; if true, it is hardly indicative of objective journalism.
In my article that published last year: Whitby Hydrogen Village and the Weaponisation of Fear | LinkedIn (also Substack), I referred to the comment section of the Whitby online petition and the role of Hydrogen Insight, I said:
One of the concerns [...] is that residents will be forced to accept hydrogen. This is false. It is more accurate to say that hydrogen will be the alternative to no gas [...] such fears about forced conversions are being amplified, for instance, in a story by the online publication Hydrogen Insight, the implication is that a new law is being pushed through to force individuals to have hydrogen installed.
“Whitby Hydrogen Village and the Weaponisation of Fear” Michael Vigne
Here is the quotation from the earlier Hydrogen Insight article:
Residents in the Whitby proposal fear that British Gas, the utility which is working with Cadent to carry out gas safety checks ahead of the trial, will ultimately use the new powers to forcibly cut off the gas supply for residents who are opting out of using hydrogen.
Hydrogen Insight, 'UK bill will allow gas companies to force entry into people's homes for hydrogen heating trials'
Where are these fears coming from? Obviously if natural gas is not available it is effectively cut off and then the installation will have to be made safe. That should be obvious to anyone, viz.
[...] legacy appliances and metering must be replaced with hydrogen-ready equivalents. Non-participating households will have to be physically disconnected, from what then be, the hydrogen infrastructure. The management of connection-safety is the responsibility of the asset owners but the gas infrastructure and meters are not owned by householders. Consequently, where the meter is sited within the property, it is reasonable that access be granted to those responsible for making redundant installations safe. [...] The supply of hydrogen will necessarily displace the availability of natural gas; there is no scenario where natural gas and hydrogen can be supplied side by side in a neighbourhood.
“Whitby Hydrogen Village and the Weaponisation of Fear” Michael Vigne
By 2026, all new boilers must be hydrogen ready, but in their latest article, Hydrogen Insights state that 'critics say':
[the H2 boiler policy] would make it harder for the UK to rule out the use of H2 in the home.
Hydrogen for heating | UK walks back pledge that 'no-one will have a gas boiler ripped out of their home' | Hydrogen news and intelligence (hydrogeninsight.com)
Also, this has been made clear to anyone concerned enough to read the available information. This from the Hydrogen Village FAQ:
Under current plans, homes and businesses will be given a choice between replacing their existing natural gas appliances with either hydrogen-capable appliances or using an alternative energy supply such as electricity.
FAQ hydrogenvillage.com
Seems clear. Why aren't Hydrogen Insight familiar with this, or is it just the case they have zero ambition to inform?
It is of course the prerogative of householders not have hydrogen in their home, but it would not be in keeping with net-zero objectives to compel suppliers to provide natural gas, nor logical to do so while simultaneously obliging them to pursue the energy transition. The option to demand natural gas cannot possibly survive the supply-side transition, or put another way and risk the repetition, there can be no right to natural gas if it is not available. On the other hand It should be remembered that a similar transition happened in the past, because before natural gas, there was coal gas.
“Whitby Hydrogen Village and the Weaponisation of Fear” Michael Vigne
Hydrogen Insight's website states as a principle that:
Our mission is to deliver engaging and independent business journalism and insight to executives and leaders in the global hydrogen industry.
About Us, Hydrogen Insight
The lack of objectivity suggests it is a standard they don't even aspire to achieve. This is disappointing from the NHST Media Group. Is it really their policy that this outlet be so partisan?