Mr Javid visited the manufacturing plant in Worcester on 08 November with Worcester constituency MP Robin Walker. They were shown Worcester Bosch’s new ‘clean gas’ development lab and saw at first hand the company’s first hydrogen-ready boiler.

A hydrogen boiler could drastically reduce emissions in the use of heating and hot water in UK homes, hence its title as ‘clean gas’. The company believes it is a viable solution towards achieving the UK’s net zero carbon targets by 2050. The boiler can run on natural gas until a future conversion of the gas grid to hydrogen.

Mr Walker commented on the visit on social media, having tweeted: “Great to be able to introduce the chancellor to some of the brilliant engineers and researchers working on the next generation of hydrogen boilers. So exciting to see this vital tech for net zero taking shape.”

Martyn Bridges, director of technical communication and product management at Worcester Bosch said: “It was great to have Mr Javid at our plant to see our hydrogen boiler prototype.

“The development of hydrogen fired boilers will mean millions of existing heating systems in our homes can be saved, rather than the entire system needing to be replaced if alternative technologies such as heat pumps were installed.

“Millions of homes currently use a combi boiler system and if converted to hydrogen they would be able to continue to do so without the need for a new hot water storage cylinder.”