Ministers are expected to reignite plans for a £50bn hydrogen overhaul of the country’s gas grid to help strip harmful carbon emissions from the energy system.
Within weeks the Government will publish a long-delayed strategy to clean up emissions from the country’s heat, transport and industrial sectors in a multi-billion pound energy evolution as radical as the power sector’s move from fossil fuels to renewables.
The plan could usher in an ambitious move to convert the nation’s boilers to run on lower-carbon hydrogen rather than methane-rich natural gas.
Experts say this could slash carbon emissions from heating by more than 70pc at the lowest possible cost. But it would still require £50bn and add £170 to gas bills every year by 2050.
A report from KPMG found that converting the UK gas grid to use hydrogen could be £150bn to £200bn cheaper than rewiring British homes to use electric heating powered by lower-carbon sources.