Well-to-wheels resource consumption, emissions and ownership cost: Australian hydrogen fuel cell trucks

This study investigates the well-to-wheels fossil energy consumption, emissions, and total cost of ownership of eight hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks in Australia compared to one diesel and four battery electric trucks. Compared to the diesel truck, most hydrogen pathways, except renewable electrolysis and steam methane reforming without carbon capture, exhibited higher fossil energy consumption. Regarding well-to-wheels greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen fuel cell trucks and battery electric trucks using renewable electricity performed the best (1.025 × 10 −1 and 2.811 × 10 −2 kg CO 2 eq/km, respectively), while the grid electrolysis pathway performed the worst with a value of 4.565 kg CO 2 eq/km. Hydrogen pathways showed 14–31 % higher total cost of ownership than their diesel counterpart, with the highest value of AU$5.60/km by grid electrolysis. However, the total cost of ownership of hydrogen pathways is expected to decrease in the near future due to continuous improvements in fuel economy and reductions in infrastructure costs. • WTW emissions and TCO of HFC trucks were compared with the diesel truck. • WTW GHG emissions of renewable pathways were ∼77–93 % lower than the diesel truck. • WTW PM 2.5 emissions of HFC trucks were ∼31–93 % lower than the diesel truck. • TCO of HFC trucks with renewable hydrogen was ∼10.5 % higher than the diesel truck. • O&M costs and mileage were the most sensitive to TCO, irrespective of truck type.