CONSERVATION
Where the past and future meet The edge of an ancient woodland, with SSSI status, is an unlikely place for cutting edge energy research, but that is exactly what is happening at Northern Gas Networks’ InTEGReL* site next to Thornley Woods near Gateshead. Durham Wildlife Trust has been working with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), our region’s network gas supply company, for a number of years, and NGN were conscious that the development work it was carrying out at InTEGReL needed to consider the impact on the local environment. To get the best possible advice and support, NGN turned to Durham Wildlife Trust and the charity’s consultancy arm, Durham Wildlife Services, to analyse site conditions and develop the environmental mitigation work needed to provide Biodiversity Net Gain across the facility. The story of InTEGReL is a fascinating one, and the extensive research and innovation being delivered there, designed to support homes and industry meet the UK government’s Net Zero ambitions. Heating homes and powering industry with gas is currently responsible for more than 30 per cent of the country’s carbon emissions, and is recognised as one of the more challenging areas to decarbonise. Hydrogen can play a key role as, unlike the natural gas we use today, it doesn’t produce any carbon when burned and this, alongside energy efficiency measures and new digital and energy related technologies, can provide the right solutions for a wide variety of customers and industries to support a fair transition to Net Zero for all.
10 | WILDLIFE DURHAM WINTER 2021
* Integrated Transport Electricity and Gas Research Laboratory
Developing hydrogen for heat This year at its InTEGReL facility, Northern Gas Networks, in partnership with fellow gas distributor Cadent, and the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has built two ‘Hydrogen Homes’ – the first homes in the UK to showcase the use of 100 per cent hydrogen appliances for domestic heating and cooking. For the first time, members of the public can visit the unoccupied houses, which are fuelled by hydrogen instead of natural gas. The homes are installed with 100 per cent hydrogen appliances including boilers, hobs, cookers and fires. Visitors can interact with a range of appliances which look and feel like those they use today, and operate in the same way, but are compatible with a Net Zero future. Although a full hydrogen conversion may sound futuristic, there is another innovative and unique project at the InTEGReL site, which is already bringing hydrogen to the public, right now for the very first time. NGN is a partner in HyDeploy, a project aimed at demonstrating that blending up to 20 per cent hydrogen into the natural gas supply can heat homes without any change experienced by the customer. This is possible because current gas appliances are already compatible with a blend of up to 23 per cent hydrogen. In August 2021, the community of Winlaton, close to the InTEGReL site, made history when it became the first community to receive a blend of hydrogen and natural gas on the public gas network.
