Heat is the elephant in the room of the energy transition. While we have made massive strides in greening our electricity supply with wind and solar, our heating sector remains stubbornly attached to fossil fuels. In the UK, over 80 percent of homes rely on natural gas boilers.
Electrification via heat pumps is one solution, but it is not a silver bullet. The sheer scale of peak heat demand in winter would overwhelm the electricity grid if every home switched to a heat pump overnight. This reality brings us back to the gas network and the technology that could save it: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
The Hydrogen Connection
To understand the role of CCS in heat, you have to look at hydrogen. There is a growing consensus that the most viable way to decarbonize heat without ripping out millions of boilers is to switch the gas grid from natural gas (methane) to hydrogen.
However, producing hydrogen cleanly is the challenge. “Green hydrogen” made from electrolysis is currently expensive and difficult to scale. “Blue hydrogen,” made by reforming natural gas, is ready to scale now. But the reforming process releases carbon dioxide.
This is where CCS comes in. Without Carbon Capture, blue hydrogen is just another fossil fuel process. With CCS, it becomes a low-carbon vector that can utilize existing gas infrastructure.
Why CCS is Non-Negotiable
For the gas industry, CCS is not just an add-on. It is a license to operate in a Net Zero future.
The process involves stripping the carbon out of the gas pre-combustion (at the production site) or post-combustion (at industrial heat clusters). This captured CO2 is then compressed and transported via pipelines to be stored safely in geological formations, such as depleted oil and gas fields under the North Sea.
This creates a viable pathway for “low-carbon gas.” It allows the UK to keep using its extensive gas transmission network, which is a valuable national asset, while slashing emissions from domestic and industrial heating.
The Industrial Cluster Strategy
The deployment of CCS for heat is closely tied to industrial clusters. The government strategy focuses on hubs like Teesside, Humberside, and Merseyside (HyNet).
The logic is sound. You build the CCS infrastructure where the heavy industry is. These factories and refineries need high-grade heat that electricity cannot easily provide. Once the capture and storage infrastructure is built for industry, it becomes the backbone for producing blue hydrogen for residential heat.
It creates a circular economy of sorts. The industry anchors the demand for CCS, driving down costs. This makes the production of blue hydrogen cheaper, which in turn makes the decarbonization of domestic heat more feasible.
The “Catch”: Cost and Liability
Despite the clear logic, there are significant hurdles. The “catch” with Carbon Capture is primarily economic.
First, the technology is expensive. Adding capture units to reforming plants requires massive capital investment. It creates a “parasitic load,” meaning the process itself consumes energy, reducing overall efficiency.
Second, there is the issue of liability. Who is responsible for the stored CO2 for the next thousand years? The regulatory framework needs to be watertight to encourage private investment. Insurance models and government guarantees are still being debated.
Finally, there is public perception. Some critics argue that CCS merely prolongs the life of the fossil fuel industry. They argue that investing in blue hydrogen and CCS diverts funds from insulation and heat pumps.
A Necessary Bridge
However, looking at the raw numbers, it is hard to see a path to 2050 without CCS. The seasonal variance in heat demand is too massive for batteries and renewables to handle alone. We need the energy density of molecules (gas/hydrogen).
CCS provides the bridge. It allows us to decarbonize the gas supply while we slowly upgrade our building stock. It turns the problem of our gas dependency into a manageable transition.
The technology works. The storage sites are available. The challenge now is not engineering, but policy. If the UK is serious about fixing the heat problem, it needs to get serious about catching the carbon.
