Hydrogen production

The production of Hydrogen for the use in vehicles and other technologies has seen an increased focus in recent years, as the move to cleaner forms of transport has gained momentum.  Hydrogen can be burnt in a similar way to natural gas or used to generate power and importantly has zero carbon emissions at use.

The focus on Hydrogen production has been magnified by Government policy, with a target of the UK being at ‘net zero’ by 2050, and making decarbonisation a legal requirement.

There are a number of ways in which Hydrogen can be produced including from fossil fuels and biomass and even nuclear, but one of the ‘cleanest’ methods is electrolysis.  Electrolysis uses water as its raw material, and simply requires an electric current to generate the gas.  One of the challenges of the electrolysis method is however the level of energy required, which has in the past affected the financial viability of projects.

The growth of renewable energy projects has changed this, as many schemes have excess energy in time of low demand, which can be directed to Hydrogen generation projects.

Our Natural Resources team can advise on all aspects of this emerging income stream.

• Advice on agreements between equipment providers and landowners
• Hydrogen legislation and regulatory regime
• Advice in relation to Hydrogen industry codes
• Bespoke and targeted planning and development consent order advice
• Advising on additional environmental permits and consents along with third party land rights required for Hydrogen projects