Scottish regions with high potential for using hydrogen for heat in buildings

This paper summarises findings from research to map areas with high potential for future hydrogen production and, subsequently, areas with a building stock that has high technical suitability to use hydrogen for heating.

The policy context for hydrogen for heating is set out in the response from the Scottish Government published alongside the summary report.  

The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan requires over a million homes currently heated by gas boilers to convert to zero emissions heat over the next eight years. Overall, emissions from homes and buildings need to fall by 68% from 2020 to 2030.

The use of 100% hydrogen in heating our homes is dependent on strategic decisions by the UK Government on the future of the gas grid that will not be made before 2026.

The study identified regions in Scotland where hydrogen can best be produced based on a range of assumed criteria, datasets retrieved for assessment and stakeholder discussions. The project focused on green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energy sources, and blue hydrogen, which is produced mainly from natural gas.

The analysis identified the following seven high potential areas in Scotland deemed most able to produce low or zero carbon hydrogen in the near future and where a considerable percentage of properties are technically suitable to accept hydrogen for heating:

1. Fife, 66.2%
2. Falkirk, 63.7%
3. Highland, 54.6%
4. Angus, 53.6%
5. Aberdeenshire, 48.2%
6. Aberdeen City, 43.7%
7. Na h-Eileanan Siar, 12.1%

Alongside a summary of the report, we are publishing a response by the Scottish Government that sets the context for the use of hydrogen for heating in Scotland.