A brief review of the potential role of hydrogen in the decarbonisation of energy and an overview of the issues related to the geological storage of hydrogen. 

Hydrogen has been identified as potentially a key component in decarbonising energy, and in particular, heat, given the need to achieve the UK government’s commitment of ‘Net Zero’ emissions by 2050, and 2045 in Scotland. One of the key challenges associated with the use of hydrogen in heat networks relates to storage in order to manage daily and seasonal variations in demand. It is this requirement to be able to store, but also withdraw hydrogen, that poses one of the greatest challenges to a hydrogen-based heating sector, particularly when considering large-scale storage requirements. This talk presents some of the geological and environmental challenges and opportunities associated with the geological storage of hydrogen.  

About our speaker:

Andrew P Gunning MSc BSc (Hons) CGeol FGS, CEng MCIWEM, CDir FIoD 

Andrew Gunning is Managing Director of Ecus Ltd, a medium sized environmental consultancy based in Sheffield and with a regional network of offices throughout the UK. As a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Geologist Andrew has extensive experience in environmental risk management in the energy sector including hydrogen and natural gas storage. Previous experience includes leading the groundwater component of the SHEER project, a Horizon 2020 assessment of environmental risk in shale gas development, Andrew is currently working on risk management aspects of the NERC Equip4Risk project. Other experience includes the mitigation of legacy impacts from coal mining.