Hydrogen will play an important role in the transition to net zero. It is likely to be a key piece of the jigsaw for decarbonising energy-intensive sectors such as steel and chemicals and for HGV transport, aviation and shipping – but only if it is produced from sustainable, renewable energy sources.
Hydrogen made from water using renewable electricity has very low carbon emissions. But as renewable electricity will be needed in many sectors, it is important that hydrogen produced this way is reserved for those sectors where there is no alternative. The need for hydrogen for the zero-carbon economy in no way justifies ongoing fossil fuel production.
The development of a large-scale hydrogen industry is still beset by uncertainties, is often controversial, and includes a certain amount of greenwash.
Applications for fossil-fuel-derived hydrogen refused
The Weald Action Group has opposed three hydrogen-related applications in Surrey – and Surrey County Council refused all three. These were UKOG’s application to drill for gas at Dunsfold, and IGas’s applications to produce hydrogen at Albury and Bletchingley.
Hydrogen storage
One of the main reasons for developing hydrogen storage is that it saves wasting a great deal of green electricity. At present the UK grid is unable to cope with the amount of electricity generated by wind at very windy times. If this electricity could be used to make hydrogen, by splitting water, to make hydrogen and oxygen, then the stored hydrogen would be available to generate electricity at those times when the wind doesn’t blow. This would require building a hydrogen production facility close to wind turbines, and storage sites close to where the hydrogen is made.
Hydrogen is the smallest molecule. This means it escapes easily, especially when it is under pressure. Hydrogen also has an indirect global warming effect, so hydrogen leakages along the supply chain can have significant consequences.
UK Storage Ltd UK Energy Storage Ltd (UKEn)’s hydrogen storage plans
UK Energy Storage Ltd (UKEn) announced plans to create salt caverns for hydrogen storage beneath the Isle of Portland in Dorset. This plan failed to attract government support and looks very unlikely to materialise. UKEn is a subsidiary of UK Gas and Oil (UKOG). UKOG’s background is in oil and gas exploration and they have been spectacularly unsuccessful.
UKOG now has interests in just one UK oil production site – Horse Hill in Surrey – which is shut-in after the Supreme Court quashed planning permission as a result of a case that we brought. UKOG does not have planning permission to operate at Horse Hill.
On 1 October 2025, UKOG published long overdue annual accounts. These revealed that the group required additional funding to meet ongoing cash requirements and that “there can be no certainty that such sources of funding will be obtained in the timeframes necessary”. The directors acknowledged acknowledged that “These conditions represent a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Company and the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Hardly an encouraging background for a would-be hydrogen pioneer.
Read more:
Do UKOG’s plans to store hydrogen in salt caverns in Dorset add up?
IGas misleads Surrey residents with hydrogen greenwash – 3 August 2021
Need for hydrogen is no justification for oil and gas expansion – Weald Action Group briefing from 2020