Comparative life cycle analysis for gasification-based hydrogen production systems

Hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in the future energy systems, given the global increase in energy demand, which is driven by the accelerated growth of the world's population, the on-going industrial development and urbanization as well as the higher standards of living and education. In this paper, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is used to evaluate the environmental impact of two different gasification based hydrogen production technologies: hydrogen production by biomass steam gasification in a dual fluidized bed reactor system (DFB) and hydrogen production by gasification of coal and biomass using entrained flow technology (EF). For both hydrogen production pathways the gasification plant, raw materials production, pre-processing, and transportation are included in the life cycle assessment and also hydrogen delivery to consumers. The DFB cases have lower global warming potential than the EF cases. Also the abiotic depletion fossil potential and the human toxicity potential are lower. The acidification and eutrophication potentials are lower for the EF cases. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.