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 H 2 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…

• ET
  Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
• BF
  Bundesamt für Energie