Testing of household and commercial appliances for operation on Hydrogen-Natural Gas (NG) blends as part of a pilot project to convert 3000 customers to de-carbonized NG

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Climate change driven by the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases will have major environmental, social, and economic ramifications for Canada and the world. Consequently, the Government of Canada has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To tackle the problem and achieve these targets, a multifaceted approach that includes the development of new technologies and the innovative application of existing technologies will be required. In industry, increasing the use of electricity produced through renewable sources to offset fossil fuel consumption will help to achieve some of the necessary emissions reductions. However, since the use of electricity is impractical in many industrial applications, other low-emission fuels will also be required. Therefore, the Government of Canada and other organizations have developed plans to distribute hydrogen (H2) for use as a low-emissions/low-carbon fuel. One approach that could immediately reduces emissions is to blend H2 with natural gas and distribute it as hydrogen-enriched natural gas (HENG) in existing infrastructure to reduce fossil fuel usage.Heritage Gas Limited is a Nova Scotia-based natural gas distributor and is a core member of the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance and is planning to distribute HENG throughout its network. In this research program, we will test a variety of common household and commercial appliances with HENG to determine their safe and reliable operating range. A lab will be established for appliance certification, and a mobile unit will be developed for on-site testing. These efforts will ensure safety and convenience for Heritage Gas customers and facilitate similar projects elsewhere in Canada and the world, which will advance Canada's goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and exploit more renewable energy sources. A diverse group of personnel will be trained in advanced experimental and computational methods, which will support future development of Canada's knowledge-based economy, particularly in the energy and process industries.