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Climate change performance of hydrogen

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production based on life cycle assessment†
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992
Gulam Husain Patel, * Jouni Havukainen, Mika Horttanainen, Risto Soukka and
Mari Tuomaala

Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize how we power our lives, from transportation to energy pro-
duction. This study aims to compare the climate change impacts and the main factors affecting them for
different categories of hydrogen production, including grey hydrogen (SMR), blue hydrogen (SMR-CCS),
turquoise hydrogen (TDM), and green hydrogen (PEM electrolysis). Grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and
turquoise hydrogen, which are derived from fossil sources, are produced using natural gas and green
hydrogen is produced from water and renewable electricity sources. When considering natural gas as a feed-
stock, it is sourced from the pipeline route connected to Russia and through the liquefied natural gas (LNG)
route from the USA. The life cycle assessment (LCA) result showed that grey hydrogen had the highest emis-
sions, with the LNG route showing higher emissions, 13.9 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, compared to the pipeline
route, 12.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. Blue hydrogen had lower emissions due to the implementation of carbon
capture technology (7.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route and 9.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the LNG
route), while turquoise hydrogen had the lowest emissions (6.1 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route and
8.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the LNG route). The climate change impact showed a 12–25% increase for
GWP20 compared to GWP100 for grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen. The production of green hydrogen
Received 4th July 2023, using wind energy resulted in the lowest emissions (0.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2), while solar energy resulted in
Accepted 11th December 2023
higher emissions (2.5 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2). This article emphasizes the need to consider upstream emissions
DOI: 10.1039/d3gc02410e associated with natural gas and LNG extraction, compression, liquefaction, transmission, and regasification in
rsc.li/greenchem assessing the sustainability of blue and turquoise hydrogen compared to green hydrogen.

1. Introduction economy. Consequently, hydrogen and its derivative chemicals

and fuels are becoming increasingly popular due to their
The use of hydrogen as a clean energy transition fuel is receiv- ability to provide clean and efficient power with minimal
ing increasing attention both in industry and in academic environmental impact. Furthermore, the use of hydrogen-
research.1 Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize how we based technologies could help reduce reliance on traditional
power our lives in many areas, from steel production and fossil fuel sources for energy production while still allowing
transportation to heating and energy production. Moreover, it access to reliable forms of power generation.
is a clean source of energy that can be used in many different The development of an infrastructure for hydrogen production
ways, making it an attractive option for those looking for from fossil fuels in the near term and the conversion of hydrogen
alternatives to fossil fuel. into a 100% renewable source in the longer term can play a
Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources, crucial role in reaching net zero. Currently, 42% of all hydrogen
including fossil feedstock, biomass, and renewable energy produced is used in oil refineries, 35% in ammonia production,
sources, and it is a versatile energy carrier that can be used to and 15% in methanol production,2 which represents only a small
store electricity generated from fluctuating renewable sources part of hydrogen’s potential. Hydrogen can also be used to
such as wind and solar, as well as being produced from fossil produce synthetic fuels such as methanol, biomethane and
fuels. These characteristics make hydrogen an ideal transition ammonia on an industrial scale, and in addition, it can be used
fuel in the move towards carbon neutral energy and net zero in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, which emit only water
vapor and hot air with no harmful downstream emissions.3 To
contribute significantly to clean energy transitions, hydrogen
Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, FI-53851 Lappeenranta,
should be adopted in sectors where it is currently almost absent,
Finland. E-mail: [email protected]
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: https://doi.org/ such as transportation, buildings, and in particular cement pro-
10.1039/d3gc02410e duction and energy production.4

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Fig. 1 The spectral colors of hydrogen based on the production method (modified from Renewable Energy Agency, 2020).9

The environmental sustainability and energy efficiency of although they did not include the environmental impact of
hydrogen depend on its source and how it is produced, and natural gas extraction and transportation from the source
hydrogen is commonly classified with different colors indicat- because the aim of the study was to compare blue hydrogen to
ing its origin, as shown in Fig. 1. This paper focuses on grey, grey hydrogen.11 Osman et al. (2021) compared blue hydrogen
blue, turquoise, and green hydrogen. Most of the hydrogen to to green hydrogen. In their LCA, they assumed that carbon
date is produced by steam methane reforming (SMR),5 a high- captured from blue hydrogen is 100% from the process and
temperature process in which steam reacts with a hydrocarbon did not consider emissions from the transportation of fossil
to produce hydrogen with carbon dioxide as a by-product, and feedstock (natural gas).12 Hermesmann & Müller (2022) con-
the product is referred to as grey hydrogen. Hydrogen pro- ducted an LCA for grey, blue, turquoise, and green hydrogen.13
duced by SMR with carbon capture and storage (SMR-CCS) to This work considered upstream emissions of natural gas from
reduce emissions is called blue hydrogen. An additional cat- the natural gas grid for the respective countries similar to
egory is turquoise hydrogen which is produced by thermal Howarth & Jacobson (2021).11
decomposition of methane (TDM) leading to hydrogen and The present work contributes to the field in three main
solid carbon.6 Another common method for producing hydro- ways. Firstly, it conducts an LCA of hydrogen production using
gen is electrolysis of water, which involves decomposition of the LNG route for grey and blue hydrogen, which encompasses
the H2O molecule into hydrogen and oxygen, and the product all stages of the LNG supply chain, including liquefaction,
is referred to as green hydrogen. Electrolysis takes place in an compression, and regasification. Secondly, it performs an LCA
electrolyzer, which works in a similar way to a fuel cell but in of turquoise hydrogen, comparing the natural gas input from
reverse, that is, instead of using the energy of a hydrogen both pipeline and LNG routes to the conventional method of
molecule to produce electricity, an electrolyzer produces hydro- hydrogen production. Finally, it calculates the global warming
gen from water molecules using electricity.7 Polymer electro- potential of blue and turquoise hydrogen over 20 and 100
lyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers are the most common and years to compare it with grey hydrogen.
widely used electrolyzers. Other types of electrolyzers include
alkaline electrolyzers (AE) and solid oxide electrolyzer cells
(SOEC).8 2. Materials and methods
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool used to evalu-
ate the environmental impact potential of a product or system The environmental impact of hydrogen production techno-
throughout its life cycle. This assessment encompasses all logies is assessed in this work using the LCA method. LCA is
stages, starting from the extraction of raw materials in the defined as the systematic analysis of the potential environ-
upstream processes, through the manufacturing, distribution, mental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle
and use of the product, and finally to its end-of-life phase in (ISO standard 14040-14044:2006), including production, distri-
the downstream processes. By conducting an LCA, we can bution, use, storage, recycling, and end-of-life.14 The guide-
obtain comprehensive results that quantify the emissions lines and requirements provided in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
released into the air, water, and soil, originating from signifi- ensure that the LCA approach is comprehensive, compatible,
cant inputs from the environment.10 and clear.15 Moreover, the use of ISO standards ensures that
A number of studies have used LCA to examine the environ- studies by different research groups are comparable. The LCA
mental impact of hydrogen. Howarth & Jacobson (2021) con- procedure is divided into four phases: goal and scope, life
ducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of blue hydrogen, cycle inventory (LCI) analysis, life cycle impact assessment

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(LCIA) and interpretation.15 This procedure creates a rational cessing, transport, and emissions are included in the system
basis for decision-making, which confirms the comparability boundary. Two possibilities for natural gas input are studied,
of different processes through quantified environmental namely, the pipeline route from Russia and the LNG route
impacts and serves to identify potential areas for from the USA. Fugitive emissions from natural gas trans-
improvement. mission as results of leaks are included in this study, but emis-
The LCA in this study is modelled using Sphera Gabi soft- sions resulting from accidental explosions or maintenance
ware version 10.5.1.124, and the inventory in the Gabi software work on natural gas pipelines are not included. Heat and
has the database from 1992 to 2021. The electricity usage for energy to liquefy natural gas and regasification for use are con-
grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen production is from the sidered for the LNG route, which provides more realistic
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Finnish 2030 electricity mix and green hydrogen production results in the case of grey hydrogen.
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uses solely solar and wind electricity from Finland. The 2030 In life cycle assessment, it is possible to apply multiple
electricity mix was chosen for this study because Finland’s functions to a system so that the valuable by-product of the
National Energy and Climate Plan 2021–2030 foresees a 50% system can be used to reduce the burden of another system.
share of energy from renewable sources and the complete For example, the additional heat generated by an SMR plant
phasing out of coal usage as a source of energy along with a can be used to generate steam and used in district heating,
39% emission reduction target.16 and oxygen from PEM electrolysis can be used as a valuable
product. Therefore, it is rational to design the LCA model in
2.1. Goal and scope such a way that the valuable by-products are exploited, and
The aim of this study is to assess and compare the environ- some burdens of other systems are avoided, thus reducing the
mental impacts of hydrogen production, specifically examin- total environmental impact.
ing scenarios where natural gas is sourced from Russia via
pipelines and LNG is sourced from the USA. This study exam- 2.3. Scenario analysis
ines four different processes of hydrogen production: (1) SMR This study evaluates four different scenarios for hydrogen pro-
(grey hydrogen), (2) SMR-CCS (blue hydrogen), (3) TDM (tur- duction: grey hydrogen; blue hydrogen; turquoise hydrogen;
quoise hydrogen) and (4) PEM electrolysis (green hydrogen). and green hydrogen. Within grey, blue, and turquoise hydro-
The assessment of green hydrogen is for the same output as gen, there are sub-scenarios referring to the natural gas being
the other forms of hydrogen. It is assumed that the required supplied either via pipelines or LNG, respectively.
electricity is the 2030 electricity mix grid power. The current 2.3.1. Grey hydrogen and blue hydrogen. The grey hydro-
research builds on findings of a previous study conducted as gen considered in this study is produced by SMR technology,
part of a master’s thesis.17 The scope of the LCA is from and the production starts with hydrogen purging with natural
“cradle to gate”, that is, from the extraction of raw materials to gas feedstock to break long hydrocarbon chains. This step is
the factory gate. The remaining phases of the life cycle, such followed by sulphur removal by chemical absorption on a ZnO
as the transport, storage and utilization of hydrogen, and the bed because even a small amount of sulphur present in
associated environmental impacts are excluded since they do natural gas poisons the catalyst. Then, methane is fed to the
not depend on the hydrogen production technology used. steam reformer together with steam. The subsequent reaction
The outcome of the product systems under consideration is is a strongly endothermic reaction and produces a mixture
quantified using a functional unit, which enables the compari- containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The required
son between scenarios. The selected functional unit is 1 kg of steam is assumed to be produced from natural gas. Next, the
hydrogen available at the gate of the production site. All input produced syngas and steam go to a water gas shift reactor to
and output data for each product system are normalized in the produce more hydrogen and some carbon dioxide from the
mathematical sense to this reference. carbon monoxide. Subsequently, the pressure swing adsorbent
Climate change has been chosen as the impact category of (PSA) process is used to separate hydrogen and CO2 and the
interest as done in previous studies by Howarth & Jacobson hydrogen is stored with a compression to 60 bar.19
(2021) and Bauer et al. (2022) because hydrogen is believed to Unrecovered hydrogen, methane, CO and other compounds go
play a crucial role in achieving a low-carbon energy system.11,18 to the furnace to produce heat for the reformer.20 A study by
To demonstrate short-term and long-term climate impacts, Alhamdani et al. (2017) showed that the fugitive emission from
both the 100-year horizon global warming potential and the the SMR process is equal to 0.004 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 and
20-year horizon global warming potential, GWP100 and does not have a major impact.21 In view of the low level of fugi-
GWP20, respectively, have been included and the unit for cal- tive emissions, their effects are neglected in this study. An
culation is taken as kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. overview of a typical SMR process is given in Fig. 3. The pro-
duction process for blue hydrogen is the same as that for grey
2.2. System boundaries hydrogen, except that carbon dioxide is captured from the
The studied system boundary for the LCA of hydrogen pro- plant, stored and sequestered as shown in Fig. 3.
duction from natural gas for the SMR, SMR-CCS and TDM pro- 2.3.2. Turquoise hydrogen. TDM consumes less natural
cesses and from renewable electricity in the case of the electro- gas than SMR for hydrogen production and has lower total
lysis process is shown in Fig. 2. Natural gas extraction and pro- environmental impact.22 This superior environmental per-

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Fig. 2 System boundary conditions for all systems.

Fig. 3 Grey hydrogen (SMR) and blue hydrogen (SMR-CCS) production (modified from Petrescu et al., 2014).19

formance is because the TDM process does not release carbon amount of carbon dioxide can be captured with little impact
dioxide to air. Moreover, since carbon dioxide is in a solid on the environment. Typically, TDM is a form of pyrolysis of
form, carbon gas cannot escape from the process, and a large methane at a high temperature of 1500 K. There are two alter-

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nate routes in this process: one involving the use of a catalyst, analysis phase. The resulting data set is called the Life Cycle
which requires a lower temperature of around 1000 K, and the Inventory (LCI). In this study, data from the GaBi inventory
other without a catalyst, which requires a higher temperature were used in the first instance, and if the data were not
of 1500 K.23 One of the advantages of pyrolysis of methane is present in the GaBi database, then the data from scientific
that the only reaction products are hydrogen and solid carbon, articles were used. The inventory database for Gabi can be
thereby preventing the formation of CO2 during the reaction.24 found in the ESI in background data Table S6† and is also
Consequently, TDM is considered a promising alternative available on the Sphera website.29 The infrastructure material
method for hydrogen production and can be seen in Fig. 4. and energy flows such as manufacturing of equipment were
The produced solid carbon can be utilised in many appli- considered for grey, blue, and green hydrogen. Infrastructure
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cations, such as chemical and industrial use.5 The benefit of emissions were not considered for turquoise hydrogen due to
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using TDM is that it does not depend on CCS development a lack of data. The existing infrastructure for pipelines and the
and the infrastructure since the output carbon is in the solid LNG route was used in the analysis. The LCI data for the
form.25 hydrogen production processes examined are provided in the
2.3.3. Green hydrogen. Electrolysis of water to split water ESI.†
into oxygen and hydrogen using renewable energy as an elec-
tricity source is currently considered the most promising 2.5. Sensitivity analysis
method for carbon-free hydrogen production. Electrolyzers The LCA outcome may be affected by modelling assumption
range in size from small apparatus-sized devices suitable for and choices, particularly the system boundaries and the input
small-scale decentralized production of hydrogen to large cen- parameters which can be uncertain.30 Therefore sensitivity
tralized production facilities that could be directly connected analysis should be used to assess the assumptions and choices
to renewable or other zero-emission forms of electricity gene- of the model as well as the robustness of the outcome and its
ration. A number of different electrolyzer types exist that sensitivity to various factors.31
operate on different principles: polymer electrolyte membrane In this work, perturbation analysis was used to identify the
(PEM) electrolyzers, alkaline electrolyzers and solid electroly- effects that changes in parameters have on the overall net
zers.26 An overview of the general process of water electrolysis result. Perturbation analysis shows the most sensitive para-
for hydrogen production is given in Fig. 5. By-product oxygen meters on the basis of the sensitivity ratio (SR).32 The impact
from water hydrolysis can be used in combustion processes in of variations in each SR value on the overall result can be
the form of oxygen-enriched air to overcome mass transfer determined through the following equation:
limitations and increase the flame speed and temperature.27 Δresult
SR ¼ intial result .33 According to Heijungs & Kleijn
Δparameter
2.4. Inventory analysis intial parameter
All material and energy flows within and across the boundaries (2001), parameters with SR values (as an absolute value)
of the examined product system are quantified in the inventory greater than 0.8 are important, that is, the parameter has a sig-

Fig. 4 Turquoise hydrogen (TDM) production (modified from Keipi et al., 2018).25

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Fig. 5 Overview of green hydrogen (PEM electrolyzer) production (modified from Hermesmann & Müller, 2022).13,28

nificant effect on the LCA outcome.34 If the absolute value of & Krishnan Bhat (2009) reported emissions of 16–40 g CO2 eq.
the SR value is higher than 1.0, the parameter is seen as par- per kW h from wind turbines for 1 kW h of energy.37 The
ticularly important. However, if the SR value of a parameter is second sensitivity analysis considered the utilization of waste
less than 0.2, it has minimal influence on the overall results. heat from the electrolyzer to avoid the impact of heat pro-
Besides the perturbation analysis, the impact of selected duction for district heating purposes from different fuels. The
modelling choices on the net results was also analyzed. In the third sensitivity analysis included the utilisation of oxygen in
first analysis of modelling choices, electricity, which was the combustion process to avoid the impact of oxygen
assumed to be supplied by the 2030 electricity grid mix for production.
grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen, was changed to 100%
wind power. The electricity consumption includes consump-
tion for natural gas extraction, natural gas transmission 3. Results and discussion
through both routes, the hydrogen production process, the
carbon capture process in the case of blue hydrogen, and 3.1. Life cycle impact assessment results
hydrogen storage. In the second analysis of modelling, the The LCIA results of the studied hydrogen production methods
capture rate of carbon dioxide from the SMR process in blue are presented in Fig. 6. Detailed results can be found in the
hydrogen production is 99%. However, since natural gas is ESI† in the Results section. Fig. 7 displays the outcome for
burned in the combustion chamber to generate high tempera- green hydrogen, which is derived from renewable energy
ture steam for the SMR process and carbon dioxide is not cur- sources. In contrast, the outcomes for grey, blue, and tur-
rently captured from this stage, the overall capture rate is 60%. quoise hydrogen depend on fossil fuels, and therefore their
A sensitivity analysis was conducted to consider the capture of results are presented individually.
carbon dioxide also from the combustion chamber, which The results for grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen differ for
would increase the overall carbon dioxide capture rate to 90%. the pipeline route and the LNG route, with the LNG route
The third sensitivity analysis involved examination of the showing higher emissions for all three types of hydrogen.
transmission emissions. The assumption in the LCA is that Specifically, grey hydrogen yields 13% higher emissions for the
1% of the produced and transmitted natural gas is vented LNG route of 13.9 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 compared to 12.3 kg
during the transmission of natural gas through the pipeline CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route. Blue hydrogen yields
route. In this sensitivity analysis, we assumed that the venting lower emission than grey hydrogen due to the use of carbon
of natural gas is twice the assumed data. In the case of the capture technology, with a result of 7.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2
LNG route, we assumed 1% natural gas venting during the for the pipeline route and 9.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the
regasification process for sensitivity analysis. LNG route. Turquoise hydrogen, which requires more heat
In sensitivity analysis for green hydrogen, the first sensi- energy from burning natural gas in the combustion chamber
tivity analysis involves changing the emission factor of solar of the TDM reactor but produces lower CO2 emission from the
and wind power production for a 1 kW h output. According to reactor due to the production of solid carbon, yields the lowest
De Wild-Scholten (2013), solar energy emits 20–81 g CO2 eq. results of 6.1 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route and
per kW h.35 However, Kamal et al. (2020) presented lower emis- 8.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the LNG route. The reduction in
sions of 35–40 g CO2 eq. per kW h for solar energy, and only emissions from blue and turquoise hydrogen is significant,
11 g CO2 eq. per kW h for wind energy.36 Meanwhile, Prakash with blue hydrogen emission being around 25–38% and tur-

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Fig. 6 LCIA results of examined hydrogen production technologies (Climate change, GWP 100).

Fig. 7 Total distributed LCA results of green hydrogen production (GWP100 years).

quoise hydrogen emission being 35–54% lower than that of this by TDM would at the same time produce 4.6 Mt a−1 hydro-
grey hydrogen. The detailed breakdown of emission results for gen, which is roughly 13% of the hydrogen produced to date
grey, blue, turquoise, and green hydrogen can be found in the from natural gas (47% of 75 Mt a−1). It can be seen in the ESI
ESI in the Results section (Table S8†). Furthermore, the carbon in the carbon black section (Tables S17–19†).
product from TDM could replace carbon black. Global Results for the production of green hydrogen demonstrate
demand for carbon black is 15 Mt a−1 globally and producing that connecting the electricity grid solely to wind energy

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results in a total emission of 0.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. its damaging consequences, it is essential to address climate
Conversely, connecting the electricity grid only to solar energy change mitigation within the next few decades.38
results in a higher total emission of 2.5 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. GWP20 shows a 12–25% higher value than GWP100 for
When the electricity grid is connected to both solar and wind grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen, as shown in Fig. 8. This
energy in a 50 : 50 ratio, most emissions come from solar result is attributable to methane leaks that occur during
energy, which emits 1.2 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. Emissions from natural gas extraction and transmission. Specifically, in the
wind energy are lower, of 0.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, and only a case of pipeline routes, methane is often emitted through
small amount comes from manufacturing of the electrolyser. vents from the pipeline, whereas in the case of LNG routes,
The total emission for this is 1.5 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, as illus- leaks occur during the transportation, liquefaction, and regasi-
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trated in Fig. 7. Green hydrogen provides emission reduction fication processes. The LNG route has about 18% more
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of 80–95% compared to grey hydrogen. climate impact for GWP100 and 23% more climate impact for
As per the renewable energy directive (RED) II, the pro- GWP20 than the natural gas pipeline route for all hydrogen
duction of hydrogen as a renewable fuel of non-biological production technologies. The difference between GWP100 and
origin (RFNBO) should have production emissions lower than GWP20 is about 16–28% for the LNG route.
3.38 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 or achieve a 70% reduction com- The use of GWP20 does not have a significant impact on
pared to fossil fuels. According to the results, green hydrogen the result for green hydrogen because its production does not
can meet this requirement, whereas blue hydrogen and tur- involve the intake of natural gas as it is solely reliant on renew-
quoise hydrogen cannot meet this requirement unless the able energy sources.
carbon produced is sequestered.
3.3. Sensitivity analysis
3.2. Comparison of 100-year GWP and 20-year GWP The sensitivity ratio (SR) values of the sensitivity analyses are
Since the study focuses on climate impact, it was necessary to compiled in Table 1. In the case of grey hydrogen, compressing
select an appropriate time frame. Traditionally, studies on and transmitting natural gas through pipelines has a minor
climate impact have used a time span of 100 years. However, impact (SR 0.05–0.16 and SR 0.01–0.09, respectively), while the
in this instance, it is sensible to consider the impact over a liquefaction and regasification stages of the LNG route have a
20-year period to highlight the role of methane in hydrogen moderate impact (SR 0.56–0.74 and 0.44–0.66, respectively).
production over a shorter time period.11 It is important to note For the SMR reactor, the carbon dioxide output has the most
that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) impact when natural gas is sourced through the pipeline route
has identified methane as a greenhouse gas that has 86 times (SR 0.64), while the heat output has the most impact when
more global warming impact than CO2 over a 20-year time LNG is used (SR 0.68). None of the SR values show that there
span. To prevent a significant global temperature increase and is an individual parameter that had a major impact on the

Fig. 8 Comparison of GWP100 and GWP20 for grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen.

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Table 1 Sensitivity ratio (SR) values for grey, blue, and turquoise when connected to the LNG route, the impact is major (SR
hydrogen 0.67–1.18).
For turquoise hydrogen, the data for SR value indicate that
Grey Blue Turquoise
hydrogen hydrogen hydrogen connecting the TDM reactor to the pipeline route results in a
lower impact (SR 0.21–0.43). Additionally, the natural gas pipe-
Compression
line and compressor have a lower impact as well (SR 0.08–0.52
Natural gas input 0.06 0.11 0.16
Electricity output 0.16 0.25 0.1 and 0.1–0.18, respectively). However, when the TDM reactor is
CO2 output 0.05 0.13 0.18 connected to the LNG route, the impacts are major (SR
Natural gas pipeline
1.0–1.64) because the LNG route, which involves liquefaction
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Electricity input 0.03 0.4 0.19

Natural gas input 0.07 0.19 0.52 and regasification, has a higher impact as well (SR 1.1–1.6 and
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Natural gas output 0.09 0.15 0.08 SR 0.9–1.4, respectively).

Natural gas vent 0.01 0.01 0.08
Besides perturbation analysis, the impact of main model-
Liquefication
Electricity input 0.56 1.01 1.14 ling choices was included in the sensitivity analysis. Modelling
Natural gas input 0.56 1.02 1.18 choices selected for sensitivity analysis included electricity
LNG output 0.74 1.3 1.6
source, carbon dioxide capture rate and the venting of natural
Regasification
Heat input 0.61 1.1 1.29 gas. In the case of grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen, the
Natural gas input 0.44 1.17 1.4 change of electricity source from the 2030 electricity grid to
Natural gas output 0.66 0.87 0.92
100% wind energy leads to a reduction in GWP100 of around
CO2 captured
CO2 input — 1.59 — 12% for the pipeline route and 26% for the LNG route, as
Electricity input — 1.13 — shown in Fig. 9. Detailed results can been in the ESI.† The
CO2 captured — 1.14 —
impact of capturing carbon dioxide from the combustion
CO2 emission — 0.79 —
CO2 liquefied chamber as well as the reactor in the case of blue hydrogen
CO2 input — 1.2 — can be observed from Fig. 10. The results show 33% reduction
CO2 output — 1.16 —
in emissions for the pipeline route and 28% reduction for the
Electricity input — 1.15 —
CO2 injection LNG route. The results in Fig. 11 show that when venting is
CO2 input — 1.14 — doubled compared to the actual assumption (1% of produced
Electricity input — 1.17 —
natural gas), the results increase from 8% to 20% for the pipe-
SMR reactor (pipeline)
CO2 output 0.64 0.42 — line route and from 7% to 15% for the LNG route for grey,
Heat output 0.11 0.18 — blue, and turquoise hydrogen.
Natural gas input (pipe) 0.18 0.11 —
In the case of green hydrogen, the emission factor of solar
SMR reactor (LNG)
CO2 output 0.07 0.67 — and wind electricity and the utilization of excess heat and
Heat output 0.68 1.18 — oxygen from electrolysis were included in the sensitivity ana-
Natural gas input (LNG) 0.36 0.961 —
lysis. Fig. 12 presents a comparison of climate change results
TDM reactor pipeline
CO2 emission — — 0.21 for green hydrogen production including the results of the
CO2 output (solid) — — 0.25 present study and results utilizing the average or maximum
Heat output — — 0.43
emission factor found from the literature for solar and wind
Natural gas input pipeline — — 0.21
TDM reactor LNG electricity production. Interestingly, our results for solar
CO2 emission — — 1.02 energy-based hydrogen production are consistent with the
CO2 output — — 1.64
average value found in the literature. However, there are
Heat output — — 1.61
notable discrepancies between our results and the literature
values for wind energy, indicating significant variability in
emission data.
Taking into account the utilization of excess heat from the
overall results (SR > 1). The total detailed results of the sensi- electrolyzer and the oxygen produced reduces the net climate
tivity analysis are included in the ESI.† change impact. Fig. 13 summarizes the impact on net climate
In the case of blue hydrogen, the SR values vary depending change results when considering utilization of waste heat from
on the natural gas process. For natural gas compression, the an electrolyzer to substitute for district heating from various
impact is relatively low (SR 0.1–0.25), while for natural gas fuels. Based on the results, it is possible to achieve even a
pipeline transmission, the impact is moderate (SR up to 0.4). negative carbon footprint. The most favorable outcome is
However, for the LNG route, the liquefaction and regasification observed when green hydrogen production is powered entirely
processes have a higher impact (SR > 1). The most sensitive by wind turbines and the waste heat is utilized for district
parameter is related to carbon dioxide capture, compression, heating sourced from peat thermal energy. Fig. 14, it can be
and storage. These processes have the highest SR values of all seen that for green hydrogen, the utilization of oxygen from
the processes considered. The impact of the SMR reactor also the electrolyzer results in a 30% decrease in impact when
varies depending on the route. When connected to the pipe- powered by solar energy and a significant 60% reduction when
line route, the impact is relatively lower (SR 0.01–0.42), while powered by wind energy.

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Fig. 9 Electricity source – 2030 electricity grid vs. 100% wind (GWP100 years).

Fig. 10 Blue hydrogen CO2 capture rate of 60% vs. 90%.

3.4. Comparison to earlier studies Bauer et al. (2022),18 Cetinkaya et al. (2012),42 and Soltani et al.
(2014),43 it was found that GHG emissions from grey hydrogen
In previous studies by Hermesmann & Müller (2022),13 Collodi plants ranged from 7 to 11 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. In the current
et al. (2017),39 Al-Qahtani et al. (2021),40 Salkuyeh et al. (2017),41 study, the results were higher due to the inclusion of natural gas

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Fig. 11 Venting of natural gas by extra 1% for the pipeline and LNG routes.

Fig. 12 Comparison of green hydrogen result of GABI data with previous studies of solar and wind energy emission.

extraction and transmission emissions. When transporting In the study by Howarth & Jacobson (2021),11 it was found
natural gas via pipelines, there are two types of emissions to con- that for blue hydrogen, the total carbon dioxide emissions
sider: those resulting from compressing and transporting the gas were only 9–12% lower than for grey hydrogen for GWP20
and those resulting from unintended events such as leaks or years. In the current study, however, when natural gas came
maintenance. Taking both types of emissions into account pro- from the pipeline route, the total carbon dioxide emissions for
vides a more accurate assessment. blue hydrogen were found to be 32% lower than those for grey

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Fig. 13 Comparison of green hydrogen result of GABI data with heat recovery from the electrolyzer.

Fig. 14 Comparison of green hydrogen results of GABI data with oxygen utilization from the electrolyzer.

hydrogen for GWP20 years. The lower emission values are The study conducted by Cetinkaya et al. (2012)42 revealed
because 60% of the carbon dioxide is captured from the SMR that the production of hydrogen through wind energy resulted
process, and fugitive emissions resulting from methane leaks in emissions of 0.9 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, while solar energy
are negligible in the SMR process. resulted in emissions of 2.4 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, which aligns

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closely with our findings. A study conducted by Ji & Wang SMR plants could be retrofitted to add CCS to produce blue
(2021)44 revealed that hydrogen produced through wind energy hydrogen, which would result in a reduction in climate change
had greenhouse gas emissions of 1.8 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, impact of 25–40% compared to grey hydrogen. Besides the
while solar energy resulted in emissions of 1.82 kg CO2 eq. per CCS technology, storage locations that are suitable for the cap-
kg H2. Similarly, a study by Aydin & Dincer (2022)45 reported tured CO2 are necessary. Ultimately, the outcomes suggest that
emissions from renewable energy sources such as wind and only green hydrogen aligns with the RED II climate impact
solar energy to be around 1.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. These limit for hydrogen production.
results are in line with our study’s findings on green hydrogen.
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Conflicts of interest
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4. Conclusion There are no conflicts to declare.

Despite the use of hydrogen having a zero-carbon footprint,
the production of hydrogen generates a significant amount of
CO2 emission when derived from fossil fuels. The LCA in this Acknowledgements
study was performed for four different hydrogen production The research was partially funded by the Hygcel project co-
methods to identify the environmental impact of the most financed by the Business Finland.
approachable and common forms of hydrogen production,
namely, steam methane reforming (SMR), steam methane
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