Gas industry invents new term to ‘greenwash’ boiler sales

A leading gas boiler manufacturer has been accused of misleading consumers by inventing a meaningless new term to suggest its new appliances will help tackle climate change.

Vaillant is marketing its ecoTech gas boilers as “hydrogen prepared” and claims this makes them “the perfect future-proof heating solution”. Several plumbing companies that install Vaillant’s boilers have also adopted the term “hydrogen prepared” on their websites.

But in reality the boilers are just regular gas boilers, all of which are capable of burning a blend of natural gas and up to 20% hydrogen – and there are no fixed plans for supplying hydrogen to homes anyway. The government has signalled that hydrogen is unlikely ever to fully replace gas.

The invention of the term follows a warning by the Competition and Markets Authority in May that marketing new boilers as “hydrogen-ready” or “hydrogen-blend-ready” risked “greenwashing people into thinking these products are more environmentally friendly than they really are”. It added: “There is no difference technically between a standard gas boiler and one marketed as a ‘hydrogen-blend’ boiler – both can operate safely with a 20% hydrogen blend.”

Jo Alsop of the Heating Hub, which advises households on heating systems, said the new term “hydrogen prepared” was also misleading and should be removed from marketing too.

She said: “Describing new boilers as ‘hydrogen prepared’ could mislead consumers into thinking that they are making a long-term investment in a green heating system.

“It is clear that the whole sector needs much tighter regulation and clear guidelines on what they can tell consumers about the capability of their products.”

It comes after openDemocracy revealed last week that British Gas advisers falsely told customers that hydrogen would be available across the UK for home heating and that new boilers were “hydrogen ready”, meaning they could burn 100% hydrogen.

Two advisers suggested that the government had already decided to replace gas with hydrogen, and the third said the switch could begin in six months’ time.

The gas industry is promoting hydrogen as the replacement for gas in homes despite analysis concluding that it would be inefficient, costly and resource-intensive

In the light of our investigation, more than 1,400 openDemocracy readers have emailed the Competition and Markets Authority urging it to open an investigation into “hydrogen greenwashing” by the gas industry – and take firm action when people are being misled.

The gas industry is promoting hydrogen as the replacement for gas in homes despite an analysis of 32 independent studies concluding that it would be inefficient, costly and resource-intensive.

In June, then energy security secretary Grant Shapps said that hydrogen is “unlikely to be the way forward” for home heating.

After being contacted by openDemocracy, Vaillant altered its website by adding an asterisk after the term “hydrogen prepared” leading to a footnote that says: “Tested to work safely and efficiently with up to 20% hydrogen mix.”

But Alsop said the footnote did not go far enough in removing the risk of misleading consumers.

“Any hydrogen reference is clearly causing confusion for consumers as it implies an extra environmental benefit that doesn’t exist,” she said.

“We need clear guidance from the government to tell us which technologies will play a role in our future so households can spend tight budgets on measures that actually reduce their energy use and carbon footprints.”

The government last week launched a consultation on the possibility of blending up to 20% hydrogen with gas in the gas grid.

However, it said a 20% hydrogen blend would cut emissions from burning gas by only 6% to 7% and, even if approved, may only be “limited and temporary”. It added that hydrogen was expected to be most valuable in industries that, unlike homes, could not switch from gas to an electric heat pump.

Some other gas boiler companies have also amended their websites in the past few days to remove misleading claims about hydrogen.

Worcester Bosch, a boiler manufacturer, had claimed that hydrogen “is what the government will be introducing into the UK gas grid” and “the UK will, eventually, switch from natural gas to 100% hydrogen”. In response to questions from Sky News, the company removed the statements from the website.

Boiler Central, an online retailer, also agreed to make changes after being accused of misleading consumers by claiming in a video on its website that “most new boilers are now having the hydrogen-ready compatibility built into them, helping not only future-proof your investment of a new boiler, but ensuring your energy bills and carbon footprint remain as low as possible”.

Click here to sign openDemocracy’s letter urging the competition watchdog to investigate false claims by the gas industry