Supply chain decarbonisation essential for green hydrogen
University of Sheffield research finds green hydrogen could fail as a sustainable fuel option without wider change.
The work highlights the decisive role that national energy mixes will play in determining the level of emissions involved in producing green hydrogen and its impact on the environment.
Sheffield researchers, led by Professor Lenny Koh, an expert in supply chains at the University’s Management School, evaluated 20 possible scenarios for producing and transporting green hydrogen across 14 countries from 2023 through to 2050. The countries included were the UK, Japan, China, France, Norway, Canada, Germany, South Korea, the USA, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands - all of which were chosen because they are currently leaders in hydrogen development.
The research focused on five different ways of making hydrogen fuel - three of which used electrolysis and two of which used biomass systems - the current main production methods globally.
Results show that in 2023, electrolysis technologies had the highest global warming impacts, mainly due to their energy-intensive operation, maintenance and manufacturing stages, as well as how most of the electricity used in these systems came from grids that were powered by fossil fuels. However, findings suggest that making hydrogen via proton exchange membrane could be the most sustainable option by 2050, providing the electricity grids have decarbonised.
The study, Sustainability of green hydrogen technologies depends on energy mix and supply chain, is published in Nature Communications Sustainability.
