Future hydrogen economies imply environmental trade-offs and a supply-demand mismatch.

ABSTRACT: Hydrogen will play a key role in decarbonizing economies. Here, we quantify the costs and environmental impacts of possible large-scale hydrogen economies, using four prospective hydrogen demand scenarios for 2050 ranging from 111-614 megatonne H₂ year^-1. Our findings confirm that renewable (solar photovoltaic and wind) electrolytic hydrogen production generates at least 50-90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-fuel-based counterparts without carbon capture and storage. However, electrolytic hydrogen production could still result in considerable environmental burdens, which requires reassessing the concept of green hydrogen. Our global analysis highlights a few salient points: (i) a mismatch between economical hydrogen production and hydrogen demand across co

SUBMITTER: Terlouw T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11327350 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature