Sustainability assessment of supply chains for green hydrogen production

The sustainability of supply chains for green hydrogen production is compared from a life cycle point of view: 1) offshore electrolysis with electricity from Dutch wind farms followed by pipeline transport of hydrogen to Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2) onshore electrolysis in Rotterdam with electricity from the same wind farms, 3) electrolysis with electricity from solar PV in Algeria followed by pipeline transport of hydrogen and 4) electrolysis and ammonia production with electricity from solar PV in Saudi Arabia followed by deep sea transport and ammonia cracking. The environmental sustainability is assessed with ReCiPe 2016 and Environmental Footprint 3.0. The Total Cumulative Exergy Loss (TCExL) method is used to calculate the exergetic sustainability. According to the endpoint scores, offshore electrolysis with wind energy is preferred, but the difference between the TCExL scores of both wind energy options is small. The preference order of the other supply chains is undecided. The offshore wind option is also preferred according to the midpoint indicators GWP/climate change, land use and water consumption/use. It is advised that the systems be investigated in more detail before drawing conclusions about the order of preference and that also attention be paid to the economic and social pillars of sustainability.