Techno-economic analysis of low-carbon hydrogen production pathways for decarbonizing steel and ammonia production
Low-carbon hydrogen can play a key role in decarbonizing steel and ammonia production. Here, we report a techno-economic and life-cycle emissions analysis of different hydrogen production routes for steelmaking via direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace and ammonia synthesis for five locations with estimated technological progress through 2035 and considering a range of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits. Our results show that these credits can make off-grid renewable-driven electrolytic hydrogen production competitive with fossil-based routes for decarbonizing steel and ammonia in several locations within the current decade and that off-grid electrolytic hydrogen production could potentially be cost competitive with fossil-based routes in Texas and Minnesota by 2035 even without incentives. Furthermore, with maximum IRA tax incentives, off-grid electrolytic hydrogen production is competitive with fossil-based hydrogen production routes with current technology costs. Strong renewable energy resources, access to low-cost hydrogen storage, and proximity of process feedstocks are all critical for enabling these decarbonization opportunities.
Authors
- Mariya Koleva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1387-6477)
- Jared Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6668-2276)
- Jennifer King (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7114-1458)
- Evan Reznicek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7456-1199)
- João Onofre Pereira Pinto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6547-0607)
- Kyuha Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1570-9840)
- Kaitlin Brunik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8764-2672)
- Elenya Grant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1939-011X)
- Amgad Elgowainy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3713-4654)
- Abhineet Gupta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3383-3490)
- Pingping Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8226-9270)
- Fabian Rosner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0299-0557)
- Steven Hammond
- Richard Tusing
- Matthew Kotarbinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1214-3872)
- Hanna Breunig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4727-424X)
- Sanjana Vijayshankar
- V. K. Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5783-3551)
Institutions
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports Sustainability
- Published
- 2025-03-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2025.100338
- Citations
- 14
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.45
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- Wind Energy Technologies Office
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory