Analysis of the energetic, economic, and environmental performance of hydrogen utilization for port logistic activities

Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier and storage medium that may be employed in a variety of applications. According to the industrial processes used for its production, hydrogen may be labelled using different colours: (i) grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas using steam methane reforming (SMR), (ii) blue hydrogen, like the grey one, but with carbon capture and storage (CCS), (iii) green hydrogen, produced by water electrolysis using electricity from renewable sources only, (iv) “grid” hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using grid electricity. In this study, process simulation is used to solve material and energy balances, as well as to estimate capital and maintenance costs for each technology investigated. Then, process simulation outcomes are used to estimate three key performance indicators focusing on sustainability issues: the Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI), the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). With reference to the case stud...