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NETWORK / 19 / NOVEMBER 2017 there are low carbon domestic, commercial and industrial alternatives is "very challenging", Fox says. "We don't have the range of solutions available to us we would like. From an engineering point of view, replacing the huge amount of infrastructure that has been in place since the 1980s is a real challenge." The KPMG 2050 scenarios note that the use of alternative low carbon gases such as hydrogen and biogas on the distribution network is technically feasible today; in fact, the use of hydrogen on the gas distribution network is already being demonstrated in Britain in Leeds by Northern Gas Networks' H21 project. Indeed, if much of the existing gas infrastructure can be used, there is a limit on the inconvenience of the change for gas customers and society, with hydrogen fuel eventually potentially supplying both low carbon heat and also transport, if hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are adopted en masse. Conversion at scale to hydrogen will be logistically challenging, but a similar project was successfully carried out in the 1960s and 1970s when the conversion from town gas to natural gas took place. An all- electric future is also technically possible, but signi" cant investment will be needed to meet peak heat demand, KPMG says. This will require new equipment in the home, reinforcement of electricity networks and new generation, including back up capacity for some renewable capacity at winter heating peaks. Conversion will also face design, planning, customer acceptance and funding challenges. A diverse approach A diversi" ed energy sources future would require local authorities to take a lead in delivering local solutions to heat homes and businesses, says KPMG. Diverse approaches to energy will present delivery challenges in terms of design, planning, customer participation, obtaining funding, and the ability to implement change. In the " nal scenario, some consumers would generate their own heat energy. The technical di– culties of inter-seasonal energy storage would mean that most customers would be unable to generate su– cient heating energy. The rest would largely use grid electricity, leading to increased demand on electricity networks and generation. One of the solutions could be the adoption of district heating systems; systems for distributing heat generated in a centralised location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space and water heating. These might use combined heat and power, energy from biomass, or energy from waste technologies to heat homes, and have been "very successful" on the continent, says Dr Fox. Ground, water or air-source heat pumps might also be used. Individual biomass boilers fed by woodchips or pellets might present another low carbon option. Finally, solar thermal technologies have possibilities, although their e˜ ectiveness in the UK climate is diminished. "As a network engineer, if one had a blank sheet of paper, district heating with a low carbon heat source would be the desired outcome," Fox says. Reducing demand for natural gas in the " rst place would help under any circumstances. More e˜ ective insulation for housing and commercial spaces would massively aid decarbonisation of heat. "The " rst step in the energy hierarchy is to conserve the use of energy in the " rst place," Fox points out. There is A Northern Gas Networks' gas mains replacement project where polyethylene pipes are being inserted into the ground. "Electricity has been, and will be, a relatively easy low carbon challenge compared to heat." DR TIM FOX DR TIM FOX