Hydrogen lobbyists are targeting the Labour Party after betting on the opposition winning next yearโs general election, DeSmog can reveal.
Energy policy will be a major focus at the October conferences of both major parties, which fall weeks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dramatically announced plans to water down the UKโs green targets.
Emails seen by DeSmog reveal that the hydrogen lobby is now pivoting to Labour as the party most likely to win the next election. It comes after campaigners last year accused the hydrogen lobby of targeting the Labour conference with false solutions.
The communications were sent by Beyond2050, a PR agency and consultancy, which represents the UKโs biggest gas distributors and will be coordinating a โHydrogen Zoneโ at the Labour and Conservative party conferences.
A number of the agencyโs clients are expected to use their stands in the zone to promote the controversial and widely discredited use of hydrogen for home heating, which is favoured by the industry as it can combine with natural gas, and prolong its existing infrastructure.
The Beyond2050 newsletter has also shared that โkey politiciansโ may attend the networking drinks it is hosting at the Conservative meeting in Manchester (1-4 October) and at Labourโs conference in Liverpool (8-11 October).
โThe coming months are a key timeframe for the hydrogen industry to engage with the Labour Party,โ wrote Beyond2050 founder and director Rob Dale in a newsletter sent to industry figures, politicians and journalists earlier this month.
โLabour continue to maintain a strong lead in the opinion polls and are on track to gain enough seats to win a majority at the next election.โ
Latest polling shows Labour increasing its lead ahead of the Conservatives. An Ipsos poll also found that 86 percent of British people believe the UK needs a fresh team of leaders.
Experts have warned that exaggerating the potential of hydrogen could delay action on tackling climate change by obstructing the rollout of renewables and keeping the fossil fuel industry alive. Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International UK, has warned politicians to be wary of industry influence.
“As the prospect of a general election looms, business interests will be redoubling their efforts to influence any potential government or minister,โ Goodrich told DeSmog.
โMany of the groups behind this effort remain largely unchecked by formal rules. Without greater transparency over lobbying, much of what happens in these groups will remain behind closed doors.โ
Blue, Green and Grey
Beyond2050 describes itself as the โleading strategy and political relations agency on hydrogenโ, working with โsome of the UKโs most innovative hydrogen businesses and entrepreneursโ.
The website makes no mention of gas, though gas companies make up half of its clients featured in the โHydrogen Zoneโ. They include gas distributors Cadent, SGN, Wales & West Utilities and Northern Gas Networks, British Gas owner Centrica, Britainโs gas network owner National Gas, and gas boiler manufacturer Baxi.
All these companies became Beyond2050 clients this year, according to the UKโs main lobbying registers, despite growing concerns over the use of hydrogen to replace gas in heating. At present neither the UNโs leading climate body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the UKโs climate change committee see a major role for hydrogen in decarbonising homes.
Nearly a quarter of the UKโs total greenhouse gas emissions (22 percent) come from heat in buildings. Experts say insulation along with the installation of electricity-powered heat pumps are the safest, most energy efficient way to heat homes โ and up to three times cheaper than using hydrogen.
The UK government is due to make a decision in 2026 on whether to allow โhydrogen-readyโ boilers. However, in July then energy secretary Grant Shapps cast doubt over whether hydrogen will ever be a viable form of heating. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has not yet responded to DeSmogโs request for an update.
In a statement to DeSmog, a Beyond2050 spokesperson said the company โwork[s] with companies that are also solely focused on the production of green hydrogen, as well as others across the hydrogen value chainโ. Clients working solely on green hydrogen to decarbonise industrial processes include JCB, Ryze and Johnson Matthey.
Producing โgreenโ hydrogen involves using electrolysis powered by solar and wind to split water and create the final product, and is widely seen as an important way to decarbonise industrial processes where it is hard to avoid greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is more scarce, expensive and energy intensive than other forms of hydrogen. As a result, โgreyโ fossil-based hydrogen made with natural gas or coal makes up 96 percent of existing supplies globally.
A Beyond2050 spokesperson said those participating in the zone โrepresent the breadth of the UKโs hydrogen industry and include hydrogen production, hydrogen transportation, storage and mobility, as well as those working on hydrogen for heatโ.
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, told DeSmog: โThere is a role for green hydrogen in a zero-carbon future but given supplies will remain limited for the foreseeable future, it’s a very small and specific role.
โIn particular, hydrogen must be kept out of our homes. It is a highly inefficient and expensive method of heating.โ
โAcross The Value Chainโ
The โHydrogen Zoneโ has advertised a networking drinks with โkey politiciansโ, open to โall those interested in the UKโs hydrogen industryโ, according to the weekly HY News newsletter circulated by Beyond2050.
โAs a reminder, last year Prime Minister Liz Truss attended the zone for a private drinks reception at Conservatives,โ says one newsletter, which was sent on 8 September.
The email notes that Alan Whitehead, Shadow Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Bill Esterson, Shadow Business Minister, were also present at the โinformal drinksโ held last year at Labourโs Hydrogen Zone.
HY News also reported extensively on the Labour reshuffle in early September, concluding that the current line-up may become senior government figures. The next general election is due to take place next year, with a vote predicted for sometime around May.
โThis reshuffle matters because a large proportion of the shadow ministers in these roles today would become ministers in a Starmer administration,โ Beyond2050โs Director Rob Dale wrote.
He added that this meant they now had โa suitable amount of time to develop their plans for government, meaning the coming months are a key timeframe for the hydrogen industry to engage with the Labour Partyโ.
Insights into policy-making is a specialty of the company, whose claim that its team has worked โat the highest levels of politicsโ appears to be well-founded.
Policy and strategy director Rita Wadey led the development of the UKโs governmentโs Hydrogen Strategy before taking a position at Beyond2050 in April 2022. In July, she left the company to start a new position as hydrogen strategic advisor at the National Grid.
The UK hydrogen strategy, which doubled in ambition last year to deliver 10GW of domestic production by 2030, involves a โtwin-trackedโ approach of promoting both renewables-powered โgreenโ hydrogen and โblueโ hydrogen, where the emissions from fossil hydrogen are stored and captured underground.
But โblueโ hydrogen is also controversial. A 2022 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found its production in the UK to be risky, ineffective, and to offer a poor financial investment.
The Labour Party was asked by DeSmog to clarify its plans for hydrogen in the UKโs decarbonisation, but had not responded by the time of publication.
Major Hydrogen Presence
DeSmog reported last week that a number of oil and gas firms are set to be present at the Conservative Party conference, including Beyond2050 clients Cadent, National Gas and Centrica.
National Gas will also be hosting an event at the Labour Party conference on October 9 with the New Statesman, titled: โStronger, Fairer, Greener: How Can Hydrogen Protect Industry, Create Jobs and Power Us to Net Zero?โ Bill Esterson, shadow business minister, will be speaking on the panel.
Trade association Hydrogen UK and Ineos also have exhibitor stands at both conferences. Petrochemicals company Ineos has pivoted towards hydrogen โ which it describes as a โgame-changing source of energy that can be used as both a raw material for industry and as a power source for transport and the homeโ.
Oil and gas major BP, which joined Beyond2050 as a client in March this year, also has a stand at the Conservatives conference. According to the conference agenda, the company will demonstrate how it is โin action on the challengeโฆ transforming Teesside and tackling emissions with CCS and hydrogenโ. BP is currently consulting on its proposal for H2Teesside. The planned project with UAE state-owned company Adnoc aims to be one of the biggest blue hydrogen production facilities in the UK.
In a statement to DeSmog, Rob Dale quoted Chris Stark, the chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, who tweeted earlier this year that hydrogen would play โan absolutely essential role in the 2035 energy systemโ.
“We work with businesses who are seeking to achieve this aim,” Dale said, adding that: โConference delegates will be able to speak with industry about all aspects of the Governmentโs UK Hydrogen Strategy.”
However, campaigners say the promotion of certain types of hydrogen could be a โdangerous distractionโ from solutions needed to decarbonise and increase energy security.
โHydrogen for home heating has become the emperorโs new clothing for the oil and gas industry,โ said Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign lead at Global Witness. โIt is a thinly veiled attempt for these companies to stay profitable, and to carry on polluting while pretending to be green.โ
The hydrogen lobby often used public affairs firms backed by significant fossil fuel money to achieve their aims, Harrison said.
โItโs a classic tactic straight from the fossil fuel playbook that risks eroding our democracy,โ she said. โOur decision-makers should be wary of lobbyists who come bearing gifts and promise the world.”
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