Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrogen Transportation Pathways via Pipelines and Truck Trailers: Implications as a Low Carbon Fuel

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to play a significant role in the decarbonization of the transportation sector globally and especially in California, given the strong regulatory and policy focus. Nevertheless, numerous questions arise regarding the environmental impact of the hydrogen supply chain. Hydrogen is usually delivered on trucks in gaseous form but can also be transported via pipelines as gas or via trucks in liquid form. This study is a comparative attributional life cycle analysis of three hydrogen production methods alongside truck and pipeline transportation in gaseous form. Impacts assessed include global warming potential (GWP), nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). In terms of GWP, the truck transportation pathway is more energy and ecologically intensive than pipeline transportation, despite gaseous truck transport being more economical. A sensitivity analysis of pipeline transportation and life cycle inventories (LCI) attribution is included. Results are compared across multiple scenarios of the production and transportation pathways to discover the strongest candidates for minimizing the environmental footprint of hydrogen production and transportation. The results indicate the less ecologically intensive pathway is solar electrolysis through pipelines. For 1 percent pipeline attribution, the total CO2eq produced per consuming 1 MJ of hydrogen in a fuel cell pickup truck along this pathway is 50.29 g.

Towards a Future Hydrogen Supply Chain: A Review of Technologies and Challenges

“…Given the versatility of hydrogen storage options, there are several choices available for its transportation. As seen in Figure 9, the most prevalent methods for hydrogen transportation and delivery encompass compressed gaseous tube trailer transportation, cryogenic liquid tanker truck transportation, and pipeline transportation [130]. Table 5 provides an overview of hydrogen transportation options.…”

Life-cycle global warming impact of hydrogen transport through pipelines from Africa to Germany

“…Extensive analysis of environmental burdens of hydrogen production (excl. transport) was completed by Terlouw et al 11 Also Tayarani & Ramji 12 have already analyzed the GWP of the pipeline transportation of hydrogen in gaseous form, although only for the case of the USA. These results show that one ecologically beneficial pathway is PV-powered electrolysis transported through pipelines.…”