Hydrogen powered house opens in Birmingham

The UK could be set for a green power revolution, with the first hydrogen-powered home coming online today (Friday).

The home in Lye, near Stourbridge in the West Midlands, uses a £2,000 refrigerator-sized fuel cell unit to produce 1.5 kilowatts of electricity and three kilowatts of heat.

There is no way yet to pipe hydrogen directly into homes, so the house uses natural gas that enters via the existing mains supply.

This natural gas is passed through a steam reformer that generates hydrogen and is then combined with oxygen in a fuel cell unit that produces the power and heat.

According to the Guardian, the electricity is fed directly into the house, while the heat warms water for taps and radiators.

The project will be monitored by the University of Birmingham, which is looking at the full supply chain for producing, storing and using hydrogen in homes or cars.