Life cycle assessment of hydrogen fuel production processes

The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel is gaining more and more acceptance as the environmental impact of hydrocarbons becomes more evident. A life cycle assessment study has been carried out to investigate the environmental aspects of hydrogen production. Production by natural gas steam reformi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2004-11, Vol.29 (14), p.1443-1450
Main Authors: Koroneos, C, Dompros, A, Roumbas, G, Moussiopoulos, N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative fuel
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Hydrogen
Life cycle assessment
Sustainable development
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel is gaining more and more acceptance as the environmental impact of hydrocarbons becomes more evident. A life cycle assessment study has been carried out to investigate the environmental aspects of hydrogen production. Production by natural gas steam reforming and production upon renewable energy sources are examined. Hydrogen is selected as a future alternative fuel because of the absence of CO 2 emissions from its use, its high-energy content and its combustion kinetics. A very large number of environmental burdens result from the operation of the different hydrogen production routes. A complete and accurate identification and quantification of the environmental emissions has been attempted. The use of wind, hydropower and solar thermal energy for the production of hydrogen are the most environmental benign methods. The benefits and the drawbacks of the competing hydrogen production systems are presented.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2004.01.016