Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford wants region's industrial heartlands to be 'Britain's Hydrogen Valley'

It comes as 10 Tory MPs from the North of England and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen have set out their vision for what they call a “Net Zero Northern Powerhouse” in an essay collection published today by the Conservative Environment Network.

Among them are the Rother Valley’s Alexander Stafford and Thirsk and Malton’s Kevin Hollinrake, who call for a move towards hydrogen-powered transport and the retrofitting of home insulation respectively in their contributions, as the party tries to build on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan for a “green industrial revolution”.

Net zero means that the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to or less than those removed from the environment.

Mr Stafford, who was elected to serve the Rother Valley at the last election, said: “Hydrogen power has the potential to do for our economy what coal did for us in the 18th and 19th centuries – but in a green and sustainable fashion.

“There is no doubt that this transformational technology of the future will enable us to meet our net zero target by 2050.”

He claims that the “potential for a hydrogen revolution in South Yorkshire to rival the coal industry is immensely exciting”, adding that it fits in with the Government’s so-called “levelling up agenda”.

Highlighting the area’s “unreliable” and “infrequent” train and bus services, he argues that hydrogen could power such transport in the future. He notes that the first hydrogen-powered train travelled on Britain’s rail network for the first time recently and are being made available to paying passengers by the end of 2021.

The only by-products of hydrogen fuel cells are water vapour and warm air, writes the politician.

Mr Stafford said “I intend to turn Rother Valley into Britain’s Hydrogen Valley”, adding: “It is clear that the success of the UK’s national hydrogen strategy is inextricably linked to its location in the North, particularly in Yorkshire and the Humber.

“My constituency of Rother Valley is an area of historical heavy industry and mining.

“In the last four decades or so we have lost these industries and have struggled to replace them. As a result, we are often referred to as belonging to ‘left behind communities’, but this negative narrative is not representative of our story.

“Our manufacturing expertise remains second to none, and our ambition and drive is matchless.”

Mr Hollinrake, who co-chaired the project, calls for a major retrofit programme, starting in Yorkshire, to make social housing energy-efficient. Insulating them during this parliament will be “critical” to reaching net zero cost-effectively, he says, because energy use in homes accounts for roughly one fifth of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

He writes: “Much of the debate on home energy efficiency is centred on the 200,000 new homes delivered each year, but the vast majority of greenhouse gases are emitted from our 29 million existing dwellings, 85 per cent of which will still be occupied in 2050. Within this cohort are some of our most energy inefficient homes, also representing our quickest wins and lowest hanging fruit for retrofitting.”

The Conservative Environment Network is an independent forum for conservatives who support action on conservation and decarbonisation.