The huge 177,000-mile network of hidden tunnels that could be ‘a treasure’

A 177,000-mile network of pipes hidden underground could be a “national treasure” for Britain, an expert has said.

Sources of renewable energy hit a record high in 2024 while fossil fuel power dropped to record lows, making the UK’s electricity last year the cleanest it has ever been, boosting Britain’s Net Zero plans.

An energy industry expert told the Express in March last year that Britain’s Net Zero ambition could also be boosted by repurposing existing gas infrastructure.

Sarah Williams, director of regulation, asset strategy & HS&E at gas transportation firm Wales & West Utilities, said the UK’s gas grid should be remodelled to transport hydrogen.

Ms Williams told Express.co.uk: “Across the UK, we’ve got 285,000 kilometres (177,000 miles) of pipes under the ground. We need to be able to reuse that.”

She added: “There’s obviously a school of thought that says we should go to electrification and we should decommission the gas network. But there is a cost to decommission the gas network.”

The expert pointed to a National Infrastructure Commission report into the future of Britain’s gas grid which suggested it would be £28billion cheaper to repurpose the network and use it for hydrogen than to decommission it.

Ms Williams said: “Our vision is we have these pipes today so we should use them. This network is like a national treasure that nobody really even thinks about.”

She explained that 30% of Britain’s electricity was generated from gas in 2023, arguing that homegrown hydrogen would benefit Britain, in part because of its reliability compared to electricity connections, which suffers from relatively more interruptions to consumers.

The National Grid has said continued reliance on fossil fuels to heat our homes is no longer an option if the UK is to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Natural gas makes up almost 85% of the fuel used for heating and cooking in Britain, but burning it releases planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2).

Burning hydrogen, however, does not release CO2 and according to the National Grid the technology is available to get it into our homes. The only by-product of burning hydrogen is water.

The National Grid said the “good news” is that hydrogen can be carried through the existing gas network, making it a “more cost-effective” solution as it reduces the need for new transmission and distribution networks.

But critics point to hydrogen’s flammability and the need for fossil fuels to still be used to separate hydrogen from oxygen.

Meanwhile, in 2024 the UK saw its cleanest electricity generation as fossil fuel power reached record lows and renewable saw record highs.

Climate and energy website Carbon Brief said on Thursday (January 2) that over the last decade, the UK has more than halved its electricity from fossil fuels and doubled renewables.

Its latest annual assessment shows the carbon dioxide pollution for each unit of electricity has fallen to 124g per kilowatt hour, down more than two-thirds from 419g per kilowatt hour in 2014, as the grid has shifted away from fossil fuels.

The polluting fuels generated just 29% of the UK’s electricity in 2024, as the a phaseout of coal generation culminated with the closure of the last coal power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire, while gas generation has also dropped.

Renewables including wind, solar and biomass from sources such as as burning wood pellets and landfill gas generated a record 45% of the country’s power.

In total, a record 58% of the UK’s power in 2024 came from clean energy sources, renewables and nuclear, the analysis shows, while net imports also reached new highs.

Carbon Brief said while figures from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) show wind generated more electricity than gas in 2024, those numbers exclude a significant amount of gas generation – for example from combined heat and power plants at industrial sites.

Its analysis found when all sources of gas-powered generation are taken into account, the fossil fuel is still the biggest single source of electricity, generating 28% of the UK’s power in 2024, compared to 26% from wind.

But increasing wind capacity as new projects come online, and taking into account below-average wind speeds in 2024, means 2025 is likely to see wind overtake gas as the biggest source of power, according to the analysts.