Beyond green hydrogen production: Ground transport within Europe, the hidden environmental impacts

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a comprehensive LCA methodology and comparative data for hydrogen delivery pathways, useful for further modeling and optimization studies.

🏢実務担当者:Corporate sustainability teams in hydrogen and energy sectors can use these findings to select environmentally optimal delivery modes based on distance and demand.

🏛政策担当者:Policy offices should consider incorporating delivery-stage emissions into hydrogen deployment strategies and subsidies, as production-only assessments may misrepresent overall impacts.

As Europe accelerates its transition to low-carbon energy, renewable hydrogen is expected to play a key role in decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors. While the environmental impacts of hydrogen production via electrolysis are starting to be well understood, those of its storage and transport remain poorly determined. Yet, they are crucial to overall sustainability. This study presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of six land-based delivery pathways across Europe for green hydrogen produced via Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis powered by wind energy. The scenarios differ in storage and transport methods — compressed gas (by truck or pipeline), liquefied hydrogen, and three chemical vectors (dibenzyltoluene, ammonia and methanol) transported by truck. While the production phase of green hydrogen shows a low Global Warming (GW) impact, the delivery stages are far from negligible, leading in certain cases to an overall GW impact exceeding that of domestically produced blue or grey hydrogen. These findings are amplified by taking into account hydrogen leaks across the supply chain and their Global Warming Potential. However, results demonstrate that there is no one-size-fits-all hydrogen delivery solution; optimal pathways depend on supply chain parameters, mainly distance and hydrogen demand. Pipeline transport emerges as the most environmentally efficient option for large-scale long-distance hydrogen transportation, whereas compressed gas hydrogen by truck is better suited for small-scale local delivery. Alternative delivery options, such as hydrogen liquefaction or conversion into chemical carriers with higher energy density, can lower transport-related emissions. These advantages often come with environmental trade-offs, as additional conversion steps shift part of the burden to other life-cycle stages and to other impact categories beyond GW, such as acidification and eutrophication. This study highlights the importance of integrating delivery considerations into hydrogen deployment strategies and policies. Finally, while the focus is on intra-European exchanges and ground transport, future work must investigate international hydrogen trade and maritime transport, along with their broader environmental and geopolitical implications.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.153243first seen 2026-05-15 19:23:02