Harmonised carbon and energy footprints of fossil hydrogen

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established methodology for the evaluation of the environmental performance of product systems. However, a large number of combinations of methodological choices is possible in LCA studies, threatening consistency when comparing different authors? studies. Regarding hydrogen, a specific LCA harmonisation initiative has recently been undertaken. Within the framework of this initiative, harmonisation protocols and libraries of life-cycle indicators of hydrogen have been developed in order to improve the robustness of comparative LCAs. Nevertheless, these libraries are currently affected by the lack of fossil-based hydrogen options. Hence, this study fills this gap by calculating harmonised carbon and energy footprints of hydrogen for a set of 15 new case studies involving relevant production pathways: gasification, reforming and autocatalytic decomposition of fossil feedstock, and electrolysis powered by fossil and grid electricity. Overall, the resulting extended library of harmonised life-cycle indicators stresses the role of renewable hydrogen as a key requirement in the path towards an environmentally-sustainable hydrogen economy. ? 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for evaluating the environmental performance of product systems. A specific LCA harmonisation initiative has been undertaken regarding hydrogen, aiming to improve the robustness of comparative LCAs by developing harmonisation protocols and libraries of life-cycle indicators. This study fills the gap in existing libraries by calculating harmonised carbon and energy footprints of hydrogen for new case studies involving various production pathways.