Quantifying key economic uncertainties in the cost of trading green hydrogen
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Author(s)
Aldren, Cameron
Shah, Nilay
Hawkes, Adam
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In a fully decarbonized global energy system, hydrogen is likely to be one of few energy vectors that can facilitate long-distance export of renewable energy. However, because of divergent literature findings, consensus is yet to be reached on the total supply chain costs of shipping hydrogen either as a cryogenic liquid or ammonia. To this end, this article presents a detailed process systems-based economic analysis of a typical hydrogen value chain in 2050, employing the method of elementary effects to quantify the effect of uncertainties. With expected landed costs for liquid hydrogen of $4.60 kg−1(H2) and ammonia of $3.30 kg−1(H2), the importance of uncertainty quantification is demonstrated, given that specific parametric combinations can yield landed costs below $2.50 kg−1(H2). Given our delivered hydrogen cost of $4.70 kg−1(H2), these results demonstrate the stark difference between the aspirations of decarbonization policy (with some countries aiming for prices below $1 kg−1 by 2050) and the present techno-economic reality.
Date Issued
2025-03-10
Date Acceptance
2025-02-11
Citation
Cell Reports Sustainability, 2025
ISSN
2949-7906
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Cell Reports Sustainability
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.crsus.2025.100342
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
100342
Date Publish Online
2025-03-10