Matthew Steel
Growing up on my family farm, agriculture was always going to play a part in my life. Having flirted with different possible career paths and after school work experience in a law and admin department at a local authority it was decided that agriculture was going to become the mainstay as I chose it as my vocation.
After a stint at Agricultural College, I went into full time employment on our family farm. Having started out 'on the tools' to learn the basics I quickly became more interested in the business side of farming and started to expand and diversify - adding poultry, more land and more renewable energy production.
I am now Managing Director of a business which produces potatoes, free range eggs, cereals and renewable energy. Looking at ways to improve the business is a constant feature. With this in mind, I am very keen to explore the potential opportunities that lie within on farm Green Hydrogen production.
Green Hydrogen: a new product for UK agriculture to produce and sell?
John Oldacre Foundation
Study Overview
Having first come across Hydrogen as a fuel watching Top Gear as a 'car daft' 12 year old; it is always something that has intrigued me. The fact that only water came out of the tail pipe of the vehicle was astonishing. After that, my interest in Hydrogen died away as it fell out of the mainstream.
More latterly though, top manufacturers have started to produce Hydrogen vehicles for mass production. This brought the fuel back to the forefront of my mind. Could this be the future fuel of the farm as we set to make efficiencies and decarbonise activities? In theory, it makes sense. All we need is a renewable energy source, water and an electrolyser and we can make our own fuel - simple. Or is it?
Through my Nuffield journey I hope to explore whether Green Hydrogen can be a practical fuel for production and use on UK farms. I will do this by visiting existing producers, researchers, manufacturers and traders of the fuel to gain an oversight of the industry. It has potential to not only save money by reducing inputs on the farm but also to create a new commodity to sell. After all, farmers are not just food producers, we are energy producers so why not sell fuel as well as food.