Using hydrogen would add roughly 70% to the cost of heating houses compared with natural gas by the end of the decade, according to energy analysts at Cornwall Insight.
“While hydrogen does have a part to play in the decarbonisation pathway, through for example use in the industrial sectors and in the use of surplus electricity, current and forecast costs all show it is simply uneconomical to use 100% hydrogen fuel for heating our homes,” Jitendra Patel, Cornwall's senior consultant, said.
The UK has vowed to be net-zero with its greenhouse emissions by 2050.
Hydrogen advocates insist that it could be used with barely any need to upgrade the UK’s current gas pipes and boilers, which make up most heating systems in the country.
Ministers are expected to soon allow hydrogen to be blended with fossil fuel gas in the UK’s networks to slash carbon emissions from home heating, The Guardian said.
They are also considering a huge rollout of hydrogen to supply gas boilers in homes by 2026.
Although doubters are worried about the low-carbon nature of some forms of hydrogen as the “blue” method of producing the gas uses fossil fuels.
There are also still several concerns regarding “green” hydrogen.
Michael Liebreich, chair of Liebreich Associates and founder of the analyst firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said: “Heating with hydrogen from renewable energy is six times less efficient than using the same electricity in a heat pump.
“I don’t know a single serious energy analyst not affiliated with the gas industry who thinks hydrogen heating will be a thing.”