Hydrogen for High Heat

burners · flame · cost

Burning green hydrogen for heat uses about twice the electricity of heating directly. It survives only where a flame, not just a temperature, is required.

Two bar charts. Fuel cost per MMBtu of heat delivered: natural gas burner about $4, gray hydrogen burner about $17, direct electric heat about $25, green hydrogen burner about $55, assuming gas at $3.50 per MMBtu, power at 8 cents per kWh, and hydrogen at $1.50 per kg gray and $5 per kg green. Electricity needed per MMBtu of heat: about 310 kWh heating directly, about 600 kWh making hydrogen and burning it. FUEL COST PER MMBTU OF HEAT DELIVERED Natural gas burner ~$4 Gray hydrogen burner ~$17 Direct electric heat ~$25 Green hydrogen burner ~$55 Gas $3.50/MMBtu; power 8 cents/kWh; hydrogen $1.50/kg gray, $5/kg green ELECTRICITY PER MMBTU OF HEAT Direct electric ~310 kWh Via hydrogen ~600 kWh
Power penalty
~2x
H2 flame in air
~2,100 °C
Trials
Cement, glass, steel
Main rival
Direct electric
Hub
Industry

Finding

Hydrogen combustion is losing the high-heat market to direct electric heat because it doubles the electricity bill, and keeps only niches that need a flame

Electrolysis converts about 65-70% of its electricity into hydrogen energy, and a burner then loses more up the stack. Heating directly with resistance, plasma or induction puts 90-100% of the electricity into the process. At US industrial power prices and $5/kg green hydrogen, hydrogen heat costs about twice direct electric heat and more than 10 times natural gas.

Hydrogen keeps an argument where the process needs a flame: radiant heat transfer in cement kilns, burner-fired glass furnaces, reheating furnaces built around burners, and sites where grid capacity is the binding limit but a hydrogen pipeline exists. The trials proved the combustion works. Hanson ran a cement kiln at Ribblesdale, UK on a fuel mix with 39% hydrogen in 2021; Pilkington (NSG Group) fired a float glass line at St Helens on hydrogen the same year; Ovako heated steel for rolling with hydrogen at Hofors, Sweden in 2023, using a 17 MW Nel electrolyzer. In China, the hydrogen push in heavy industry centers on steelmaking, such as Baowu's hydrogen-capable shaft furnace at Zhanjiang, rather than on burners.

The engineering issues are real but solvable: hydrogen burns hotter and faster than gas, raises NOx unless burners are redesigned, gives a less luminous flame that transfers less radiant heat, and changes the water vapor in the furnace atmosphere, which matters for glass quality. Most decarbonization plans for kilns and furnaces now lead with direct electric options - plasma torches, electric melting, thermal batteries - and keep hydrogen as a backup fuel.

Process chain

From electrolyzer to furnace

Hydrogen high-heat process chain
StepEquipmentRoleIssue
Hydrogen productionAlkaline or PEM electrolyzersMakes hydrogen on site or by pipelineElectricity cost dominates
Storage and deliveryCompressors, tanks, pipelinesBuffers supply against continuous furnace demandFurnaces run 24/7; renewables do not
CombustionHydrogen-rated burners and nozzlesFlame above 2,000 °CNOx, flame stability, lower radiant transfer
FurnaceKilns, glass tanks, reheating furnacesHolds process temperatureRefractory and product effects of water vapor

Sectors

Where hydrogen heat is being tested

Hydrogen high-heat adoption by sector
SectorProcess temperatureCompeting electric optionOutlook
Cement~1,450 °C clinkerElectric kilns, plasmaFuel blends; carbon capture handles process CO2 from limestone
Glass~1,500 °C meltAll-electric and hybrid furnacesHydrogen as part of hybrid firing
Lime and ceramics1,000-1,400 °CElectric kilns, thermal batteriesNiche
Steel reheating~1,200-1,300 °CInduction heatingPilots (Ovako); induction competes
Non-ferrous metalsVariesArc and induction furnacesElectric methods usually win

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Green Hydrogen for High Heat
Sources
Hanson, NSG Pilkington, Ovako, Baowu announcements; EIA prices; ElectronsX cost arithmetic (hydrogen 120 MJ/kg LHV)
Updated
October 2026