Green Hydrogen
(Epsom and Ewell) (Con)
What assessment he has made of the capacity of the UK to produce
green hydrogen.
The Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth ()
The UK has expertise and assets to support both green and blue
hydrogen. Our twin-track approach to enable both routes, in line
with our 2030 5 GW ambition, will drive cost-effective supply
volumes in the 2020s, while scaling up green hydrogen.
[V]
My right hon. Friend is right to talk about both forms of
hydrogen. Ideally, of course, we would all be using entirely
green hydrogen—as she knows, there are problems with the
renewable transport fuel obligation, which I hope she will be
able to sort out—but blue hydrogen is going to be part of what we
need in the coming decades. What steps is she taking to ensure
that we provide the right support for the carbon capture that
must, by definition, go alongside the production of blue hydrogen
so that it is genuinely a net zero fuel?
We are committed to making the UK a global leader in developing
carbon capture and hydrogen production, so we are supporting both
through new commercial frameworks and financial support, via our
£1 billion for a carbon capture and storage infrastructure fund
and £240 million for our net zero hydrogen fund.
(Southampton, Test) (Lab)
I welcome the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan announcement of the
proposal to develop 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production
capacity by 2030 and, as the Minister has mentioned, the £240
million net zero hydrogen fund to support that. Is it her
intention to deploy that fund to support the production of green
hydrogen and not to use any part of it to support production
capacity consisting of grey or blue hydrogen?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the 10-point plan,
which I think the whole House believes is the right way forward.
The £240 million net zero hydrogen fund is, of course, only one
element of this, and we are supporting innovation, heat trials,
standards, business models and a revenue mechanism to stimulate
that private sector investment which is so important. This is
going to put the UK firmly at the front of the pack. We will be
setting out much more detailed work later in the year when I
publish the hydrogen strategy.
