Evaluating the Role of Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier: Perspectives on Low-Emission Applications

Application of low-emission hydrogen production methods in the decarbonization process remains a highly relevant topic, particularly in the context of sustainable hydrogen value chains. This study evaluates hydrogen applications beyond industry, focusing on its role as an energy carrier and applying multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to assess economics, environmental impact, efficiency, and technological readiness. The analysis confirmed that hydrogen use for heating was the most competitive non-industrial application (ranking first in 66%), with favorable efficiency and costs. Power generation placed among the top two alternatives in 75% of cases. Transport end-use was less suitable due to compression requirements, raising emissions to 272–371 g CO2/kg H2 and levelizing the cost of hydrogen (LCOH) to 13–17 EUR/kg. When H2 transport was included, new pipelines and compressed H2 clearly outperformed other methods for short- and long-distances, adding only 3.2–3.9% to overall LCOH. Sensitivity analysis confirmed that electricity price variations had a stronger influence on LCOH than capital expenditures. Comparing electrolysis technologies yielded that, proton-exchange membrane and solid oxide reduced costs by 12–20% and CO2 emissions by 15–25% compared to alkaline. The study highlights heating end-use and compressed hydrogen and pipeline transport, proving MCDA to be useful for selecting scalable pathways.