Adoption of hydrogen‐fueled freight transportation: A strategy toward sustainability

Abstract

Freight transport is critical to the development of the global economy, but it also increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a result, global challenges, such as climate change, must be addressed. Hydrogen‐fueled transportation could be a viable, sustainable alternative by providing a clean, efficient, and long‐term alternative to fossil fuels, resulting in significantly lower GHG emissions. However, the usage of hydrogen as a fuel is still in its nascent stage, and different nations have initiated strategizing its production and consumption. Understanding the factors that may affect hydrogen's adoption as a fuel in the transportation and logistics sector becomes crucial. The present study attempts to fill this gap by identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing those factors. Initially, the factors have been identified from the literature and further finalized with the consultation with domain experts using the critical success factor theory. Further, relevant factors have been finalized and categorized using exploratory factor analysis. Afterward, the grey–ordinal priority approach is applied to determine the priority weights of the categories and their factors. The findings indicated that operational and environmental are the two most prioritized categories. Specifically, “Substituting Energy Dependency,” “Storage and Infrastructure Costs,” and “Ability to Mitigate Harmful Gases” are the top three prioritized factors for the adoption of hydrogen‐fueled transportation among stakeholders. According to the findings, the management of related businesses can collaborate as a business strategy to develop a robust hydrogen supply chain and secure the market stability of hydrogen fuel to ensure sustainable freight transportation.