Two homes in Low Thornley, near Gateshead will show the use of hydrogen-fuelled appliances in a real-world setting and today Baxi invited housing providers and colleagues to see its boiler in action.

Baxi Heating has pledged to make only products compatible with low carbon energy from 2025, which means that gas boilers will be ‘hydrogen-ready’ and can be easily converted to work with hydrogen.

Nick Wilson, commercial and marketing director at Baxi Heating, said: “We are developing new technologies that will help customers to heat their homes and businesses without warming the planet.

“While we are not wedded to any one technology, hydrogen represents a great opportunity. It is carbon-free at the point of use and enables families to use their heating and hot water in the same way they do today, without major changes to their central heating systems or homes. What starts today with one house will become a community of houses next year and then we could see hydrogen boilers in millions of homes by the next decade.”

The H100 project aims to convert a community in Fife, Scotland from natural gas to Hydrogen next year.

Paul Dunn, head of operations at housing provider Bernicia said: “It’s good for the future. We have got to get buy-in from our customers and our business, but hydrogen could be a good choice. The compatibility of the boiler with the existing properties makes it a strong option.”

The semi-detached properties have been built by Northern Gas Networks in partnership with the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and gas distribution network company Cadent.

They will demonstrate the use of 100% hydrogen for domestic heating, hot water and cooking. The only by-product of burning hydrogen is water.

Heating and hot water is currently responsible for around one third of carbon emissions.