Large-scale energy storage and mobility
infrastructures are imperative
for meeting the current global energy demand. With hydrogen increasingly
emerging as a potential energy carrier, the development of global
hydrogen mobility infrastructures is essential to accelerate the transition
to a hydrogen economy. In this work, a comprehensive cradle-to-gate
life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed for seven hydrogen delivery
pathways: compressed gas via pipeline (CGH2-PL), compressed
gas via tube trailer (CGH2-TT), liquid hydrogen (LH2), liquid organic hydrogen carrier with natural gas as a heating
source (LOHC), liquid ammonia (LNH3), liquid organic hydrogen
carrier with hydrogen as a heating source (LOHC-Own), and the direct
utilization of NH3 in direct ammonia fuel cell vehicle
(LNH3-DAFCV). The LCA results showed that CGH2-PL is the most sustainable option among all the above mentioned
pathways as it showed to have the lowest global warming potential
(GWP) (1.57 kgCO2-eq/kgH2). On the contrary,
delivery via LOHC had the worst results and would have the highest
emissions (3.58 kgCO2-eq/kgH2). However, by
partially utilizing the produced hydrogen to fulfill the heating requirements
during dehydrogenation (LOHC-Own), approximately 35% of the GWP was
reduced to 2.34 kgCO2-eq/kgH2. Likely, delivery
via LNH3 also showed significant emissions (3.14 kgCO2-eq/kgH2) and remained the second worst candidate
for hydrogen delivery. However, the direct utilization of NH3 in DAFCV showed promising results for GWP (1.62 kgCO2-eq/kgH2), making NH3 a likely candidate for
future hydrogen and energy carriers.
Green H2 is considered as one of the most promising options for achieving a net-zero emission economy, but its low volumetric density presents significant challenges. A large-scale H2 delivery infrastructure is evaluated by investigating six carriers.
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