Life-cycle analysis of hydrogen production

Production of hydrogen by steam reforming of natural gas gives rise to a number of impacts mediated by emissions to the atmosphere (Table 6.1), as well as impacts from the equipment production and disposal stream and from materials used (such as Ni catalysts) without complete recycling. The 

As stated in section 6.1.4, the cost of removing CO2 from the steam reforming plant appears to be much lower than the global warming externality associated with not handling the CO2 issue. 

If hydrogen production is based on surplus renewable energy such as wind power (as in the scenario in Chapter 5, section 5.5), the impacts are dramatically reduced. Only the occupational impacts are larger, at least at present, due to their roughly scaling with the cost of the conversion equipment, whether conventional electrolysers or reversely operated fuel cells. 

Direct bio-production of hydrogen from cyanobacteria or algae 

The bio-reactor construction must cover the area (presumably of water, since land use would entail the higher land costs) from which solar radiation is to be collected and must, from a closed construction capable of keeping the hydrogen produced from escaping, pipe it to the shore. The cost can therefore be expected to be similar to that of thermal solar collectors. It follows from the discussion in Chapter 2 that the efficiency defined as the energy value of the hydrogen produced divided by the incoming solar radiation on the reactor surface will be considerably below 1%. Table 6.2 assumes for illustration an efficiency of 0.1% and estimates cost on the basis of the similarity to solar collectors. 

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Neelis, M., Kooi, H. van der, Geerlings, J. (2004). Exergetic life cycle analysis of hydrogen production and storage systems for automotive applications. Int.. Hydrogen Energy 29,537-545. 

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