Page 18 - Gi flipbook June/July 2018

Futurescape: The view from 2035

available at a number of filling stations
alongside petrol and diesel, which are
used less and less each year.

HEAVY INDUSTRY
Coal has been consigned to the past
but natural gas is still powering heavy
industry. Although the sector has
started to move away from using gas,
it remains the most reliable way to
supply the large amounts of energy
required by industrial processes such
as iron and steel production. Gas is
therefore still a major energy source
for heavy industry, which remains
connected to the gas network.
In regions where a hydrogen
network has developed, buses have
also switched to hydrogen. Other
areas use electric and petrol hybrid hydrogen is also produced from water Individual customers can provide
buses. The rail network, including by electrolysis using low-cost balancing and ancillary services via
trams, is fully electrified, other than a renewable electricity. This approach is virtual power plants and aggregators.
few hydrogen trains. expected to play an increasingly There are more energy retailers, with
important role in the future. Hydrogen local energy co-operatives and
NATURAL GAS is produced in locations where there municipal suppliers providing a large
Natural gas plays a smaller but still are constraints on the network proportion of energy, particularly for
vital role in the energy system. While capacity. For example, large onshore those customers connected to
renewables and hydrogen are the rising wind farms in Scotland and remote microgrids. This results in a wider variety
stars of the energy system, legacy offshore wind farms are used to of products including time-of-use and
energy infrastructure for natural gas is produce hydrogen when there is peer-to-peer tariffs (via blockchain
still operating in parallel. For example, excess capacity, taking advantage of technology). There is a greater variety of
some CCGTs and natural gas networks the low marginal cost of energy from heating solutions: hydrogen (where the
remain operational and are expected to renewable sources. network is available), district heating
remain so until the end of their lives. In other countries with abundant (mostly in urban areas) and electric
Existing gas networks are valuable sunshine and large areas of land heating via community heat pumps
national infrastructure assets with remote from urban centres of demand, (largely in rural areas).
large storage capacities, and heavy solar PV is being similarly used. New properties are energy-neutral.
industry continues to reply upon them. Floating wind farms, too far from shore At times they export energy back to
for viable electricity connections, are in the grid (for example from PV
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION the planning phase, with hydrogen generation during the day when sun is
Hydrogen production has become a storage and terminal locations shining). At other times they import
major industry and an important part identified. The hydrogen produced is energy from the grid. Some properties
of the energy system. fed into the gas network, or have energy storage allowing them to
The majority of hydrogen is produced transported as liquid hydrogen. There be self-sufficient in energy throughout
from methane, using steam methane is a growing international market in the year. However, with the majority
reformers (SMRs) built along the coast. hydrogen produced from renewables, of properties 30 or more years old, an
Newly constructed pipelines take waste with shipping and liquefaction facilities energy-efficiency retrofit programme
CO from the SMRs and store it in under construction. has been integrated with the
2
carbon capture facilities, such as former deployment of smart appliances and
oil and natural gas extraction sites in the SMART HOMES smart systems to homes. These older
North Sea. Funding previously allocated On average homes are much smarter properties are still largely net
for North Sea decommissioning was with their energy, newer homes are consumers of energy, particularly for
instead used to stimulate investment in virtually energy neutral but the heating, even with some behind-the-
these storage facilities. majority of housing stock is old and meter generation installed. ■
The gas transmission network has still energy hungry.
seen significant levels of investment Homes and the appliances within ■ Arup is an independent firm of
too, as it has had to adapt to the them are much smarter in 2035 thanks designers, planners, engineers,
transition to hydrogen while to smart meters, small-scale batteries consultants and technical specialists,
continuing to supply methane. Ofgem and smart devices connected by the working across every aspect of
appointed a hydrogen network system Internet of Things. This has reduced today’s built environment. To read
operator, who managed the power consumption, particularly at peak the full report, visit www.arup.com/
competitive process used to build the times, and enabled consumers to publications/research/section/energy-
hydrogen transmission network. Some participate in demand-side management. systems-a-view-from-2035

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