Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies
Hydrogen as an energy carrier will play an important role in the future in achieving sustainable development goals in the energy and mobility sectors as well as to reach decarbonization goals. Currently adopted hydrogen strategies foresee a significant increase in the amount of hydrogen used in the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Engineering and Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666790825000254 |
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| author | Péter Németh Anikó Zseni András Torma |
| author_facet | Péter Németh Anikó Zseni András Torma |
| author_sort | Péter Németh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hydrogen as an energy carrier will play an important role in the future in achieving sustainable development goals in the energy and mobility sectors as well as to reach decarbonization goals. Currently adopted hydrogen strategies foresee a significant increase in the amount of hydrogen used in the future. To meet this increased volume in the most sustainable way, a careful analysis of potential hydrogen production technologies is necessary, considering real environmental impacts. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of different non-renewable and renewable hydrogen production technologies and evaluates their environmental effects based on global warming potential (GWP). Environmental footprint data discussed in this paper are based on published life-cycle assessment (LCA) results. As direct comparison of LCA results is difficult due to different LCA scenarios, selected system boundaries, various material components and manufacturing techniques, a novel multidimensional comparison approach was developed to understand LCA results better and to give a more comprehensive picture of environmental footprint components. In addition to methodological issues, the key influencing factors of the carbon footprint of different hydrogen production technologies were also identified. It is not possible to identify one stand-alone technology that would be the most environmentally friendly in all circumstances, it is essential to investigate all the technologies in the given context of use. Regarding water-splitting, it is outstandingly crucial to examine the source of the electricity because it strongly influences the GWP of this H2 production technology. If the GWP of the electricity is high, this technology could be more harmful to the environment than the steam methane reforming (SMR). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fe84f0de294d4519afb7fbb169f3dbcf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Engineering and Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-fe84f0de294d4519afb7fbb169f3dbcf2025-02-04T04:10:38ZengElsevierCleaner Engineering and Technology2666-79082025-02-0124100902Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologiesPéter Németh0Anikó Zseni1András Torma2Corresponding author.; Széchenyi István University, Department of Applied Sustainability, Egyetem tér 1, 9026, Győr, HungarySzéchenyi István University, Department of Applied Sustainability, Egyetem tér 1, 9026, Győr, HungarySzéchenyi István University, Department of Applied Sustainability, Egyetem tér 1, 9026, Győr, HungaryHydrogen as an energy carrier will play an important role in the future in achieving sustainable development goals in the energy and mobility sectors as well as to reach decarbonization goals. Currently adopted hydrogen strategies foresee a significant increase in the amount of hydrogen used in the future. To meet this increased volume in the most sustainable way, a careful analysis of potential hydrogen production technologies is necessary, considering real environmental impacts. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of different non-renewable and renewable hydrogen production technologies and evaluates their environmental effects based on global warming potential (GWP). Environmental footprint data discussed in this paper are based on published life-cycle assessment (LCA) results. As direct comparison of LCA results is difficult due to different LCA scenarios, selected system boundaries, various material components and manufacturing techniques, a novel multidimensional comparison approach was developed to understand LCA results better and to give a more comprehensive picture of environmental footprint components. In addition to methodological issues, the key influencing factors of the carbon footprint of different hydrogen production technologies were also identified. It is not possible to identify one stand-alone technology that would be the most environmentally friendly in all circumstances, it is essential to investigate all the technologies in the given context of use. Regarding water-splitting, it is outstandingly crucial to examine the source of the electricity because it strongly influences the GWP of this H2 production technology. If the GWP of the electricity is high, this technology could be more harmful to the environment than the steam methane reforming (SMR).http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666790825000254HydrogenHydrogen productionLife cycle assessmentGlobal warming potentialCarbon footprint |
| spellingShingle | Péter Németh Anikó Zseni András Torma Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies Cleaner Engineering and Technology Hydrogen Hydrogen production Life cycle assessment Global warming potential Carbon footprint |
| title | Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| title_full | Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| title_fullStr | Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| title_short | Multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| title_sort | multidimensional comparison of life cycle footprint of hydrogen production technologies |
| topic | Hydrogen Hydrogen production Life cycle assessment Global warming potential Carbon footprint |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666790825000254 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT peternemeth multidimensionalcomparisonoflifecyclefootprintofhydrogenproductiontechnologies AT anikozseni multidimensionalcomparisonoflifecyclefootprintofhydrogenproductiontechnologies AT andrastorma multidimensionalcomparisonoflifecyclefootprintofhydrogenproductiontechnologies |