Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1057016
THE HYDROGEN REVOLUTION A new report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says hydrogen is a credible option to help decarbonise the UK energy system. But the report states that its role depends on early Government commitment and improved support to develop the UK's industrial capability. Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), said: "Hydrogen has the potential to contribute to near-zero carbon energy emissions if used strategically. The Government must now decide whether it wishes to develop a UK hydrogen option, taking decisions now that will see the „ rst deployment in the 2020s. This must be in parallel with e‡ orts to improve energy eˆ ciency, build further low-cost renewables and get carbon capture and storage underway. The time for the Government to move from theory to practice has arrived." Recent advancements in the sector include: ● A trial that will explore the potential of injecting zero-carbon hydrogen into the natural gas network has been given the go-ahead by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ● A Northern Gas Networks report has outlined how over 3.7 million homes and 40,000 businesses and industries in the north of England that are heated by natural gas could be converted to hydrogen by 2034. These are exciting developments and could play a part in helping to achieve the existing 2050 emissions target. There's a focus on decarbonisation in this issue with contributions from the Association of Decentralised Energy, the Energy Networks Association, Cadent and Transport for Greater Manchester. As ENA chief executive David Smith points out: "What you've got is multi-vector approaches to tackling this whole greening of energy and decarbonisation." This is something that really comes across through the content in this issue and it's clear that hydrogen will play a key role. Finally, it was sad to hear the news about Robert Symons, chief executive of Western Power Distribution (WPD), who has died a› er a battle with cancer. Robert had led the company since 2000 and was instrumental in achieving improvements in network performance, reductions in cost and industry- leading customer satisfaction that enabled WPD to be regarded as the UK's leading electricity distribution business. The industry will miss him. THE FUTURE 28 Maintaining a resilient energy system A recent report entitled 'Future Resilience of the UK Electricity System' and published by the Energy Research Partnership (ERP) highlights a range of future trends that will need to be acted upon to assure we have a resilient electricity system in the future. L E A D E R C O M M E N T YOUR NET W ORK Give the people what they want Let us know what projects, technologies and topics you want us to cover. Have your say Express your opinions and respond to content by blogging or writing for the magazine. A social Network Follow us on Twitter: @Network_mag Email the editor: alecpeachey@fav-house.com C OMING SO ON ∙ Skills ∙ Cyber security ∙ Forecasting gas demand Alec Peachey alecpeachey@fav-house.com executive of Western Power Distribution (WPD), who has died a› er a Robert had led the company since 2000 and was instrumental in achieving improvements in network performance, reductions in cost and industry- leading customer satisfaction that enabled WPD to be regarded as the UK's leading electricity NETWORK / 5 / DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019