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May 21, 2023

Revealed: how gas boiler companies are misleading the public about pipe

London/Brussels, September 13 – Gas boiler companies aremisleading the public

London/Brussels, September 13 – Gas boiler companies aremisleading the public about hydrogen heating, with marketing and advertising tacticsobscuring damaging details about hydrogen boilers’ emissions and health impacts,according to a new investigation released today by Global Witness.

Numerous independent studies,including projections from the IEA, McKinsey and the IPCC have concluded that usinghydrogen for heating will be at best a niche technology.

Most so-called "hydrogen-ready"boilers bought in the coming years will likely never use hydrogen, andinstalling them would instead mean consumers remain locked into expensivefossil gas heating with hydrogen ready branding serving as little more thangreenwashing.

To help ensure this gas heatinglock-in, gas boiler companies have launched a public push for so-called "hydrogen-ready"heating. A Global Witness analysis of the advertising campaigns run by severalof Europe's largest boiler manufacturers found misleading claims including:

False claims about the health impacts of hydrogenboilers. Several gas and boiler companies have claimed in public-facingwebsite content and adverts that the only by-product of burning hydrogen iswater, creating a misleading impression of the safety of hydrogen boilers.

British Gas tells consumers on its website that "the onlyby-product of burning hydrogen gas is water" – a message that is repeated inwebsite articles, marketing material and adverts from Worcester Bosch, Baxi, andValliant.

While burning hydrogen in pure oxygen only produces water,burning it in air produces nitrogen oxides, which exacerbates respiratoryproblems including asthma in children.

False claims about the climate emissions of hydrogenboilers. The German boiler manufacturer Viessman launched a marketingcampaign in December 2021 claiming that hydrogen "poses no danger to nature orthe environment" and is "emission free".

Currently, 96% of Europe's hydrogen is produced from fossilgas which generates significant carbon emissions. Global Witness has found thatShell's flagship blue hydrogen project, based on fossil gas including carboncapture, emitsmore greenhouse gases than it captures, and has the same carbon footprintas 1.2 million petrol cars. [1]

Barnaby Pace, senior gas campaigner at Global Witness,said:

"Heating homes with hydrogen is like making dog food outof caviar: nobody would be able to afford it, and there's nowhere near enoughof it to make it work.

Even as gas bills have gone through the roof gasand boiler companies are trying to persuade the public and governments to buyinto "hydrogen-ready" boilers, when they will likely only ever run onexpensive, polluting gas and if hydrogen did ever make it into gas grids itwould only ramp prices up higher.

There are good, clean, options out there to heat homes suchas heat pumps, but they are threatening the business model of gas suppliers. So,what we’re seeing is a desperate campaign from a dirty industry, desperate tokeep burning gas, make customers pay for their hydrogen pipe dreams and keep profitingoff energy bills."

The consumer push comes ahead of the European Union agreeingwhether or not to back hydrogen heating. The European Commission's draft reformof the bloc's gas market strongly supports a rollout, with MEPs and MemberStates set to agree their positions in the coming months ahead of finalnegotiations.

Last week, Global Witness revealed how the draft plans toswitch to hydrogen heating could lead to already high energy bills more thandoubling, and for all gas consumers to be forced to pay for €240 billion of newhydrogen pipelines.