Life Cycle Analysis of Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Synthesis Gas in Brazil

A life cycle assessment approach, replacing the hydrogen production method of natural gas steam reforming with eucalyptus biomass gasification, based on the state-of-the-art hydrogen production under Brazilian conditions, considering the internal and external resources involved and the main equivalent carbon dioxide emissions of each method to quantify and compare the carbon footprint. This study aims to estimate and compare the life cycle environmental impacts of producing 1 kg of hydrogen in three scenarios: i) S1H2 - grey, ii) S2H2 - blue, and iii) S3H2 -eucalyptus biomass gasification. The ReCiPe midpoint (H) method was used to assess eight impact categories. The results show that S1H2 and S2H2 have total emissions of 17.5 and 11 kg CO2 eq., respectively, while S3H2 avoids the emission of 0.234 kg CO2 eq. Potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are found by replacing fossil fuels with eucalyptus biomass in the S3H2 due to photosynthesis, which CCUS.