ENERGY SOURCES Eric Thomas
Eric Thomas MSc, C.Eng. M.I.E.T., is an advisor to HyCymru (the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association), a Chartered Engineer, and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology with a Master’s Degree in the Environmental Design of Buildings. He has worked in both the private and public sector for the NHS, National Westminster Bank, private consultancy, and Capita.
He had a lengthy career in the NHS at a senior management level, starting with Welsh Health Technical Services Organisation, then in England for the South East Thames Regional Health Authority, and, on returning to Wales, for the Welsh Health Common Services Authority, Welsh Health Estates, and NHS Wales Shared Services. He retired from the NHS in 2015 as the head of Environmental Management and Engineering at NHS Wales Shared Services, Specialist Estate Services division. Since then he has helped promote the use of hydrogen fuel cells through an active role in HyCymru.
Guto Owen
Guto Owen’s consultancy, Ynni Glân, specialises in hydrogen and fuel cells. He has also co-ordinated the establishment of HyCymru, the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association, to advance the hydrogen economy in Wales. He was previously director of the Environmental Education Council for Wales, and manager of Carmarthenshire Energy Agency.
coupled with complementary technologies such as heat pumps, absorption chillers, solar, and batteries to supply a complete heating power and cooling solution to a site depending on the particular site requirements. They would need to be sized on the thermal demand of a site to avoid the possibility of an uneconomic electrically-led system, which has proven to be a problem with inappropriately-sized conventional CHP, but with a highly efficient fuel cell system this can be overcome.
Looking at the Government and Department of Health & Social Care environmental objectives, and in in particular those relating to emissions and
net zero carbon, fuel cells can become a fundamental technology to the pathway to achieving these aspirations. They are quiet in operation, highly efficient, and have no polluting emissions. Fuel cells are now a recognised technology for the resilient electrical supply for data centres and, are well-established in the U.S. where banks, tech-companies, city-centre operations, and others run critical applications using cost-effective fuel cells. There should be few technical issues to impede their use in the UK as they are now an established technology which can be applied in sub-MW to multi-MW scale. They can therefore be utilised in most healthcare installations. This proven technology has the potential to provide the NHS with the future resilience it needs in its engineering infrastructure, and to comply with governmental requirements and environmental aspirations.
A 440kWe cell CHP.
A big part in everyday life There is no doubt that hydrogen and fuel cells will play an important part not only in helping the NHS to achieve its net zero carbon goal, but also in the everyday life
of the UK. How in the future are we going to heat our homes when natural gas- powered boilers can no longer be used? There are a number of possibilities, but not all will be practical for the variation of different domestic properties in millions of homes across the UK. Fuel cells will have their place, and so will hydrogen boilers.
In February 2020, Worcester Bosch unveiled its hydrogen boiler prototype intended for domestic use, enabling a retrofit for existing boilers. This prototype can be fueled initially by gas, and when hydrogen fuel is available, possibly via the existing gas network, by hydrogen. Other manufacturers will inevitably follow with their own systems. There are a number of intriguing questions for energy requirements in the future, but all the indications are that hydrogen power will be part of that mix, and that the NHS will inevitably need to take on board this technology.
n Additional information on hydrogen fuel cells can be found at the following website:
www.fchea.org/stationary
hej
January 2021 Health Estate Journal 43
©Doosan Babcock
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