Using a heat pump to heat homes is 6 times more efficient than using green hydrogen: a heat pump delivers ~300 kilowatts of heat per 100 kilowatts of renewable electricity input (via 3-4x coefficient of performance from work-to-heat conversion), while green hydrogen delivers only ~50 kilowatts of heat (due to 75% electrolysis efficiency, 50% fuel cell efficiency, and transport/compression losses), requiring 6 times more offshore wind turbines for equivalent heating via hydrogen.
causalpending
Speaker
David CebonEvidence Quote
“if you started with 100 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity, the heat pump gives you 300. Right. The hydrogen route gives you 50... you need six times more offshore wind turbines if you want to heat countries' homes with green hydrogen than if you just use electricity in a heat pump.”
Source
How Clean is Hydrogen, Actually? With Prof. David Cebon | The PLUS Podcast— Everything Electric TECHCreated: 8/10/2026, 10:48:15 PM
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