Environmental permitting of hydrogen production

In the coming years, the production and use of hydrogen is going to be a significant contributor to the reduction of carbon emissions, whether it be to fuel HGVs, ships and buses or as a replacement for natural gas to decarbonise heat within industry.

In 2019, the UK produced around 27 TWh of hydrogen (Committee on Climate Change, May 2019). By 2050, and to achieve Net-Zero carbon, the National Grid estimates UK hydrogen demand will be between 152 TWh and 591 TWh, requiring somewhere between a 5- and 22-fold increase in production capacity.

Along with the projected growth in the hydrogen economy will come the need for increased diversification of hydrogen production, with a focus on emerging electrolytic and steam methane reforming with carbon capture to achieve Net-Zero ambitions. This rise in hydrogen production brings with it the requirement of operators to obtain and comply with the conditions of environmental permits.

Agenda

This webinar will discuss the environmental permitting of hydrogen production, delving into the important details surrounding the appropriate permits for the range of hydrogen production methods available. Topics that will be covered include the different types of permits and their requirements (from low impact installation standard rules environmental permits to bespoke environmental permits), explaining the application criteria and highlighting the Environment Agency’s latest updates to evidence reviews and draft guidance.

Speaker

Greg Altria is a Technical Director and European Sub-Sector Lead for Hydrogen at SLR. Greg is an experienced and knowledgeable leader with 10 years’ experience and a record of success supporting organisations to develop and deliver strategies for managing environmental legislative compliance and sustainability. He specialises in managing the preparation of environmental permit applications, including for several recent electrolytic and steam methane reformer hydrogen production plants.