Policy & Socio-Economics

The UK is not ‘starting from zero’. We have an accelerating base of hydrogen technology supply chain companies a world-class scientific base and an array of demonstration projects.

The need is to prioritise and coordinate investment to build and scale hydrogen supply chains serving multiple markets domestically and internationally. This report provides an overview of UK capability in hydrogen technologies. It has been produced as a supporting report to The UK Hydrogen Innovation Opportunity.

This report can also be downloaded for free on the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative website.

Green hydrogen (GH2) is expected to play an important role in future energy systems in their fight against climate change. This study after briefly recalling how GH2 is produced and the main steps throughout its life cycle analyses its current development environmental and social impacts and a series of case studies from selected literature showing its main applications as fuel in transportation and electricity sectors as a heat producer in high energy intensive industries and residential and commercial buildings and as an industrial feedstock for the production of other chemical products. The results show that the use of GH2 in the three main areas of application has the potential of contributing to the decarbonization goals although its generation of non-negligible impacts in other environmental categories requires attention. However the integration of circular economy (CE) principles is important for the mitigation of these impacts. In social terms the complexity of the value chain of GH2 generates social impacts well beyond countries where GH2 is produced and used. This aspect makes the GH2 value chain complex and difficult to trace somewhat undermining its renewability claims as well as its expected localness that the CE model is centred around.

The successful commercialisation of underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is contingent upon technological readiness and social acceptance. A lack of social acceptance inadequate policies/regulations an unreliable business case and environmental uncertainty have the potential to delay or prevent UHS commercialisation even in cases where it is ready. The technologies utilised for underground hydrogen and carbon dioxide storage are analogous. The differences lie in the types of gases stored and the purpose of their storage. It is anticipated that the challenges related to public acceptance will be analogous in both cases. An assessment was made of the possibility of transferring experiences related to the social acceptance of CO2 sequestration to UHS based on an analysis of relevant articles from indexed journals. The analysis enabled the identification of elements that can be used and incorporated into the social acceptance of UHS. A framework was identified that supports the assessment and implementation of factors determining social acceptance ranging from conception to demonstration to implementation. These factors include education communication stakeholder involvement risk assessment policy and regulation public trust benefits research and demonstration programmes and social embedding. Implementing these measures has the potential to increase acceptance and facilitate faster implementation of this technology.

The shipping industry faces the dual challenge of reducing emissions to meet net-zero targets by 2050 and transporting green energy sources like hydrogen and its derivatives. Green shipping corridors provide experimental routes for lowcarbon solutions with the Suez Canal uniquely positioned to lead. This paper examines the canal’s evolving role as a dynamic energy space where diverse actors and networks intersect shaping spatial power relations and aligning with green capitalism interests. It explores the Suez Canal’s potential to serve as a model for hydrogen initiatives and its capacity to influence global energy governance and geopolitical dynamics in the transition to a sustainable shipping future. The canal also represents a microcosm of broader global shifts toward a future hydrogen economy where numerous stakeholders vie for power and influence.

Demand for hydrogen is expected to increase in the coming years to defossilize hard-to-abate sectors. In the European Union the question remains in which quantities and at what cost hydrogen can be produced to satisfy the growing demand. This paper applies different approaches to model costs and potentials of off-grid hydrogen production within the European Union. The modeled approaches distinguish the effects of different spatial and technological resolutions on hydrogen production potentials costs and prices. According to the results the hydrogen potential within the European Union is above 6800 TWh. This figure far surpasses the expected demand range of 1423 to 1707 TWh in 2050. The cost of satisfying the demand exceeds 100 billion euro at marginal costs of hydrogen below 85 euro per megawatt-hour. Additionally the results show that an integrated European Union market would reduce the overall system costs notably compared to a setup in which each country covers its own hydrogen demand domestically. Just a few countries would be able to supply the entire European Union’s hydrogen demand in the case of an integrated market. This finding leads to the conclusion that an international hydrogen infrastructure seems advantageous.

The transition to 100% renewable energy systems is critical for achieving global sustainability and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Island power systems due to their geographical isolation limited interconnectivity and reliance on imported fuels face unique challenges in this transition. These systems’ vulnerability to supply–demand imbalances voltage instability and frequency deviations necessitates tailored strategies for achieving grid stability. This study conducts a systematic review of the technical and operational challenges associated with transitioning island energy systems to fully renewable generation following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) methodology. Out of 991 identified studies 81 high-quality articles were selected focusing on key aspects such as grid stability energy storage technologies and advanced control strategies. The review highlights the importance of energy storage solutions like battery energy storage systems hydrogen storage pumped hydro storage and flywheels in enhancing grid resilience and supporting frequency and voltage regulation. Advanced control strategies including grid-forming and grid-following inverters as well as digital twins and predictive analytics emerged as effective in maintaining grid efficiency. Real-world case studies from islands such as El Hierro Hawai’i and Nusa Penida illustrate successful strategies and best practices emphasizing the role of supportive policies and community engagement. While the findings demonstrate that fully renewable island systems are technically and economically feasible challenges remain including regulatory financial and policy barriers.

Increasing renewable energy technology penetration into electrical grids to meet net zero CO2 emission targets is a key challenge in terms of intermittency; one solution is the provision of sufficient energy storage. In the current study we considered future projections of electrical demand and renewable energy (in 2042) for the Southwest Interconnected System grid in Western Australia. Required energy storage considered is a mixture of battery energy storage systems and underground hydrogen storage in a depleted gas reservoir. The Southwest Interconnected System serves as an excellent case study given that it is a comparatively large isolated grid with substantial potential access to renewable energy resources as well as potential underground hydrogen storage sites. This work utilised a dynamic energy model that summates the wind and solar energy resources on an hourly basis. Excess energy utilised battery energy storage systems capacity first followed by underground hydrogen storage. The relative size of the renewables and the storage options is then optimised in terms of minimising wholesale energy production costs. This unique optimisation analysis across the full integrated system clearly indicated that both battery energy storage systems and underground hydrogen storage are required; underground hydrogen storage is predominately necessary to meet seasonal unmet energy demand that amounts to approximately 6% of total demand. Underground hydrogen storage costs were dominated by the required electrolyser requirements. The optimised levelised cost of electricity was found to be US$106/MWh which is approximately 45% larger than current wholesale electricity prices.

This study investigates the impact of delayed and accelerated expansion of the volatile renewable energy sources (vRES) onshore wind offshore wind and photovoltaics on Europe’s (EU27 United Kingdom Norway and Switzerland) demand for hydrogen imports and its derivatives to meet demand from final energy consumption sectors and to comply with European greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets. Using the multi-energy system model ISAaR we analyze fourteen scenarios with different levels of vRES expansion including an evaluation of the resulting hydrogen prices. The load-weighted average European hydrogen price in the BASE scenario decreases from 4.1 €/kg in 2030 to 3.3 €/kg by 2050. Results show that delaying the expansion of vRES significantly increases the demand for imports of hydrogen and its derivatives and thus increases the risk of not meeting GHG emission targets for two reasons: (1) higher import volumes to meet GHG emission targets increase dependence on third parties and lead to higher risk in terms of security of supply; (2) at the same time lower vRES expansion in combination with higher import volumes leads to higher resulting hydrogen prices which in turn affects the economic viability of the energy transition. In contrast an accelerated expansion of vRES reduces dependency on imports and stabilizes hydrogen prices below 3 €/kg in 2050 which increases planning security for hydrogen off-takers. The study underlines the importance of timely and strategic progress in the expansion of vRES and investment in hydrogen production storage and transport networks to minimize dependence on imports and effectively meet the European climate targets.

Green hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for the decarbonization of hard-toabate sectors and supporting renewable energy integration aligning with carbon neutrality goals like the European Green Deal. Iceland’s abundant renewable energy and decarbonized electricity system position it as a strong candidate for green hydrogen production. Despite early initiatives its hydrogen economy has yet to significantly expand. This study evaluated Iceland’s hydrogen development through stakeholder interviews and a techno-economic analysis of alkaline and PEM electrolyzers. Stakeholders were driven by decarbonization goals economic opportunities and energy security but faced technological economic and governance challenges. Recommendations include building stakeholder confidence financial incentives and creating hydrogen-based chemicals to boost demand. Currently alkaline electrolyzers are more cost-effective (EUR 1.5–2.8/kg) than PEMs (EUR 2.1–3.6/kg) though the future costs for both could drop below EUR 1.5/kg. Iceland’s low electricity costs and high electrolyzer capacity provide a competitive edge. However this advantage may shrink as solar and wind costs decline globally particularly in regions like Australia. This work’s findings emphasize the need for strategic planning to sustain competitiveness and offer transferable insights for other regions introducing hydrogen into ecosystems lacking infrastructure.

Many industrial processes such as ammonia fuel or steel production require considerable amounts of fossil feedstocks contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. Some of these fossil feedstocks and processes can be decarbonised via Power-to-X (P2X) production concepts based on hydrogen (H2) requiring considerable amounts of renewable electricity. Creating hydrogen valleys (HV) may facilitate a cost-efficient H2 production feeding H2 to multiple customers and purposes. At a large scale these HVs will shift from price takers to price makers in the local electricity market strongly affecting investments in renewable electricity. This paper analysed the dynamic evolution of a HV up to GW-scale by adopting a stepwise approach to HV development in North Ostrobothnia Finland considering multiple H₂ end uses such as P2X fuel manufacturing including ammonia methanol liquefied methane and H2 for mobility. The analysis was conducted by employing a dynamic linear optimization model “SmartP2X” to minimize LCOH within the HV boundaries. The analysis predicts that with ex-factory sales prices that are equal to or higher than marginal costs for P2X fuels production a LCOH of 3.4–3.9 EUR/kgH2 could be reached. The LCOH slightly increased with the size of the HV due to a H2 transmission pipeline investment; omitting the pipeline cost the LCOH exhibited a decreasing trend. The produced H2 will generally meet the EU definitions for clean Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO). The additional wind power required for the HV scenarios was up to 2.1–3.0 GW depending on the RFNBO-fuel sales price. This represents a fraction of the current investment plans in the North Ostrobothnia region. The results of this paper contribute to the discussion on the interplay between hydrogen ecosystems and the power market particularly in relation to power-intensive P2X processes.

Around 75% of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated by the combustion of fossil fuels (FFs) for energy production. Tackling climate change requires a global shift away from FF reliance and the decarbonization of energy systems. The energy manufacturing and construction sectors contribute a significant portion of Egypt’s total GHG emissions largely due to the reliance on fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries (EIIs). Decarbonizing these sectors is essential to achieve Egypt’s sustainable development goals improve air quality and create a resilient low-carbon economy. This paper examines practical scalable solutions to decarbonize energy-intensive industries in Egypt focusing on implementing renewable energy sources (RESs) enhancing energy efficiency and integrating new technologies such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and green hydrogen (GH). We also explore the policy incentives and economic drivers that can facilitate these changes as the government aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions for a sustainable transition by 2050.

This week the EAH team discusses LIFTE H2’s plans for the future and discusses the challenges in hydrogen markets expansion and rollout the need for resiliency for offtakers and how to build consumer confidence.

The podcast can be found on their website.

As hydrogen emerges as a pivotal energy carrier in the global transition towards net-zero emissions addressing its technological and regulatory challenges is essential for large-scale deployment. The widespread adoption of hydrogen technologies requires extensive research technical advancements validation testing and certification to ensure their efficiency reliability and safety across various applications including industrial processes power generation and transportation. This study provides an overview of key enabling technologies for green hydrogen production and distribution highlighting the critical challenges that must be overcome to facilitate their widespread adoption. It examines key hydrogen use cases across multiple sectors analysing their associated technical and infrastructural challenges. The technological advancements required to improve hydrogen production storage transportation and end-use applications are discussed. The development of state-of-the-art testing and validation facilities is also assessed as these are vital for ensuring safety performance and regulatory compliance. This work also reviews some of the ongoing academic and industrial initiatives in the UK aimed at promoting technological innovation advancing hydrogen expertise and developing world-class testing infrastructures. This study emphasises the need for stronger more integrated collaboration between universities industries and certifying bodies for building a strong network that promotes knowledge sharing standardisation and innovation for expanding hydrogen solutions and creating a sustainable hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen mobility is expected to be a crucial element in decarbonizing fossil fuel-based transportation. In South Korea hydrogen mobility has successfully formed an early market led by fuel cell passenger cars under strong support policies. Nevertheless the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) market is still in its infancy and current challenges must be overcome to achieve mass-market adoption. This study aims to identify the current challenges in the diffusion of FCVs in Korea. We identified the key challenges facing FCVs from a consumer perspective with data from the latest FCV customer survey. The data were applied to estimate ordered logit models of fuel cell car satisfaction and purchase intention. Significant challenges in Korea were identified from the perspective of vehicles infrastructure and renewable energy. Vehicle-related challenges include concerns about vehicle durability such as recalls and repairs and maintenance and repair costs. Infrastructure-related challenges include the fueling accessibility and fueling failures due to hydrogen refueling station facility failures or hydrogen supply problems. Challenges related to renewable energy include the low proportion of hydrogen from renewable sources. To achieve the large-scale diffusion of FCVs it is important to maintain support policies and attract new FCV demand such as long-distance heavy-duty vehicles.

North Africa’s Maghreb countries Morocco Tunisia and Algeria aim to become key players in the global green hydrogen market. However rising hydrogen demand challenges their ability to balance domestic decarbonization efforts with export ambitions. This study assesses the techno-economic trade-offs between national hydrogen targets and export goals evaluating their alignment with climate commitments using the TIMES-MAGe model. Five scenarios explore variations in electrolysis energy sourcing (renewables vs. grid) and water supply (surface vs. desalinated) under both local-only and export-oriented strategies. Results show that while exportdriven hydrogen production is feasible it imposes significant economic and resource burdens. By 2050 exports sharply increase hydrogen production costs electricity prices investment needs and water use. The competitiveness of renewable electricity is weakened as most renewable electricity is allocated to hydrogen exports constraining domestic decarbonization. Intra-regional hydrogen trade is less cost-effective than domestic supply with pipeline repurposing offering the most viable trade option. The findings inform future policy for cost-effective hydrogen development.

Seawater electrolysis is a promising approach for sustainable hydrogen production that could alleviate the ever-growing demand for freshwater resources. This literature review synthesizes current research on direct seawater electrolysis drawing attention to advances in electrode materials catalyst efficiency and system design. Furthermore an overview of indirect seawater electrolysis is given as a benchmark. Key challenges including electrode corrosion chlorine evolution and energy efficiency are critically analysed. Recent innovations in selective catalysts and membrane technologies are discussed as potential solutions for such challenges. The review also evaluates the economic feasibility of direct seawater electrolysis compared with the established traditional electrolysis using desalinated water. There is currently no research or industrial project demonstrating clear benefits of using direct seawater electrolysis over indirect seawater electrolysis. Our findings however do suggest that direct seawater electrolysis can become a viable component of the hydrogen economy for specific target applications.

Sweden with its abundant access to low-cost fossil-free electricity is well-positioned to become a significant hydrogen exporter. This study presents a techno-economic analysis of different hydrogen carriers—compressed hydrogen methanol ammonia and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC)—for export applications. Using the Northern Green Crane Project as a reference for scale the analysis focuses on cost optimization for hydrogen production storage and transportation. A linear programming model is developed to optimize capacities and operational strategies for each carrier ensuring a fair basis for comparison. Results indicate that LOHC and ammonia are competitive with compressed hydrogen showing particular promise for larger-scale long-distance deliveries. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders developing Sweden’s hydrogen export strategies.

As global demand for green hydrogen rises potential hydrogen exporters move into the spotlight. While exports can bring countries revenue large-scale on-grid hydrogen electrolysis for export can profoundly impact domestic energy prices and energy-related emissions. Our investigation explores the interplay of hydrogen exports domestic energy transition and temporal hydrogen regulation employing a sector-coupled energy model in Morocco. We find substantial co-benefits of domestic carbon dioxide mitigation and hydrogen exports whereby exports can reduce market-based costs for domestic electricity consumers while mitigation reduces costs for hydrogen exporters. However increasing hydrogen exports in a fossil-dominated system can substantially raise market-based costs for domestic electricity consumers but surprisingly temporal matching of hydrogen production can lower these costs by up to 31% with minimal impact on exporters. Here we show that this policy instrument can steer the welfare (re-)distribution between hydrogen exporting firms hydrogen importers and domestic electricity consumers and hereby increases acceptance among actors.

Low carbon hydrogen has a fundamental role to play in not one but two of the UK Government’s core missions. First it can help grow the economy - with thousands of new jobs and opportunities breathing new life into our industrial heartlands. Second it can help the UK become a clean energy superpower by using clean secure energy that we control. Third it can future-proof the UK’s foundational industries delivering decarbonisation and energy security to the hard-to-abate sectors which underpin the UK economy. Hydrogen developers across our membership report growing interest from customers in a wide range of sectors. Whilst current government policy has helped start the hydrogen economy industry wants this to accelerate and become more holistic so that interest is translated into demand allowing the sector to fully develop and the UK to meet its decarbonisation targets. With growing international competition the UK Government should prioritise the growth of hydrogen technology implementation leveraging the nation’s natural geological and geographical advantages. Although £20 billion in private capital investment is estimated to be ready to support the UK Government’s hydrogen ambitions persistent delays and market uncertainty risk this funding being lost to other markets. This report outlines the importance of Driving Demand for offtakers complementing the strong market foundation built from Government’s early hydrogen production focus. For effective policy implementation industry stakeholders have highlighted the importance of finding balance: retaining low-carbon technology optionality alongside certainty and support for investment with the adoption of a clear ‘vision’ and ‘market creation’ supported by a tailored mix of ‘carrots and sticks’ to support the market. From the research conducted by HUK it is clear that the choice of decarbonisation options is not done on a sector-by-sector basis that even within companies the decision-making process is site-by-site. This reflects the sensitivity of numerous factors that will ultimately determine the best solution for their site and re-enforces the view that customers must be allowed the choice of decarbonisation options. Hydrogen will play a significant role in decarbonising some of the hardest to abate sectors of the UK economy complimenting the role of electrification CCUS and other decarbonisation technologies. These sectors represent the hardest and therefore most expensive to decarbonise. However hydrogen also provides an opportunity to deliver significant economic growth through a thriving domestic supply chain and so a holistic approach should be applied.

The paper can be found on their website.

The decarbonization of energy systems poses significant challenges to energy networks due to the introduction of new energy vectors and changes in the pattern of energy demand. However this is currently an under-researched area. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by drawing on the socio-technological transitions and multi-system interactions literature to explore the views of experts from industry academia and other sectors about the challenges facing UK energy networks and the possible solutions including taking a more wholistic approach to the planning and operation of dierent networks. Using these frameworks we have demonstrated that systems can be deliberately integrated to interact and solve particular system challenges and have identified the nature of these interactions. The empirical results identify areas of consensus and disagreement about the future development of network infrastructure and regulation. They also highlight how government policy responds to the challenges and opportunities presented by the UK climate targets. The findings show widespread agreement that the UK energy system will become more electrified and decentralized as it incorporates more renewable energy. However the role of gaseous fuels in the energy system is more uncertain with some experts seeing a move from natural gas to hydrogen as being key to maintaining the security of supply while others see little or no role for hydrogen. There is also widespread agreement that the regulatory structure should change to address the challenges facing energy networks with much less agreement on whether this could happen quickly enough. Recent developments indicate the UK Government recognizes the need for regulatory change but it is premature to foresee their success in helping networks be a driver of rather than a barrier to a net-zero energy system.

The ongoing global energy transition spurred by ecological concerns and by evolving political dynamics is necessitating a significant expansion of renewable energy sources. This shift towards renewables is introducing the challenge of heightened energy supply volatility and it underscores the imperative for large-scale storage solutions in order to mitigate fluctuations in demand and supply. This study investigates the potential of Power-to-X (P2X) technologies to address this challenge and it evaluates their technical and socioeconomic implications. Using scenario simulations that leverage the maximum estimated potentials of renewable energy sources relative to demand profiles across different countries we explore the role of P2X integration in the enhancement of energy production. Our analysis highlights the pivotal role of hydrogen in the decarbonization of key industrial sectors such as steel production and heavyduty transportation in the near term. For Germany we observe a reduction in CO2 emissions from 306.26 Mt to 232.28 Mt (-24.15%) and an increase in energy independence as measured by the reduction in primary energy imports from 1150.37 TWh to 887.86 TWh (-22.82%) when comparing the baseline scenario to the most socio-economically favorable scenario. France demonstrates even greater reductions with CO2 emissions decreasing by 37.69% and primary energy imports by 40.46%. Portugal achieves similar reductions with CO2 emissions falling by 38.71% and primary energy imports by 41.81%. However none of the three countries investigated in this study (Germany France and Portugal) achieve full decarbonization and energy independence simultaneously since their respective potential for renewable energy is not sufficiently large. Drawing from these insights and accounting for the unique contexts of each of the three countries we offer tailored policy recommendations for optimizing P2X utilization and enhancing energy production efficiency.

This study explores the feasibility parameters of a potential investment plan for injecting “green” hydrogen into the existing natural gas supply network in Greece. To this end a preliminary profitability optimization analysis was conducted through key performance indicators such as the cost of hydrogen and the socio-environmental benefit of carbon savings followed by break-even and sensitivity analyses. The identification of the major impact drivers of the assessment was based on the examination of a set of operational scenarios of varying hydrogen and natural gas flow rates. The results show that high natural gas capacities with a 5% hydrogen content by volume are the optimal case in terms of socio-economic viability but the overall profitability is too sensitive to hydrogen pricing rendering it unfeasible without additional motives measures and pricing strategies. The results feed into the main challenge of implementing commercial “green” hydrogen infrastructures in the market in a sustainable and feasible manner.

The increasing demand for carbon-free energy in recent years has positioned hydrogen as a viable option. However its current production remains largely dependent on carbon-emitting sources. In this context natural hydrogen generated through geological processes in the Earth’s subsurface has emerged as a promising alternative. The present study provides the first national-scale assessment of natural dihydrogen (H2) potential in Uruguay by developing a catalog of potential H2-generating rocks identifying prospective exploration areas and proposing H2 systems there. The analysis includes a review of geological and geophysical data from basement rocks and onshore sedimentary basins. Uruguay stands out as a promising region for natural H2 exploration due to the significant presence of potential H2-generating rocks in its basement such as large iron formations (BIFs) radioactive rocks and basic and ultrabasic rocks. Additionally the Norte Basin exhibits potential efficient cap rocks including basalts and dolerites with geological analogies to the Mali field. Indirect evidence of H2 in a free gas phase has been observed in the western Norte Basin. This suggests the presence of a potential H2 system in this area linked to the Arapey Formation basalts (seal) and Mesozoic sandstones (reservoir). Furthermore the proposed H2 system could expand exploration opportunities in northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil given the potential presence of similar play/tramp.

Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energies is imperative for Germany to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. Green hydrogen holds great potential to contribute to this energy transition by enabling the storage of surplus renewable energy. However Germany's green hydrogen production industry is still in its infancy with only a few green hydrogen plants existing. Studies examining the public's acceptance of green hydrogen production are scarce in this context. Still high societal acceptance can contribute to the future expansion of green hydrogen production in Germany in terms of speed and volume. Therefore our study aims to identify significant factors influencing the German population's acceptance of green hydrogen production within various acceptance groups with differing preferences for future green hydrogen production systems. We conducted an online survey (n=1203) in Germany in 2022/2023 incorporating a choice experiment. Through subsequent latent class analysis four acceptance groups with distinct preferences regarding local green hydrogen production were identified: Unconvinced citizens Security-conscious citizens Regional electricity consumers and Financial beneficiaries. A discriminant analysis identified 9 out of 11 factors as significant for distinguishing between these acceptance groups regarding their preferences for local green hydrogen production: trust in plant safety trust in project managers risk/benefit perception environmental self-identity negative attitude towards renewable energies positive attitude towards renewable energies emotions age and gender. However no significant effects were observed for experience with green hydrogen and distance to the place of residence. Based on our results it is recommended that required renewable energy for green hydrogen production should be produced as close to the green hydrogen plants as possible. It must be ensured and communicated to the public that the (planned) green hydrogen plants meet high safety standards and pose a very low risk of fire or explosion. The neighbouring population should also benefit through annual heating cost savings and financial participation. Implementing these measures can increase acceptance of local green hydrogen production facilitating the transition towards a more sustainable energy future in Germany and beyond.

Under the constraints of the “dual carbon” goals accurately depicting the full life cycle carbon footprint of green hydrogen and its derivatives and quantifying the potential for emission reduction is a prerequisite for hydrogen energy policy and investment decisions. This paper constructs a unified life cycle model covering the entire process from “wind and solar power generation–electrolysis of water to producing hydrogen-synthesis of methanol/ammonia-terminal transportation” and includes the manufacturing stage of key front-end equipment and the negative carbon effect of CO2 capture within a single system boundary and also presents an empirical analysis. The results show that the full life cycle carbon emissions of wind power hydrogen production and photovoltaic hydrogen production are 1.43 kgCO2/kgH2 and 3.17 kgCO2/kgH2 respectively both lower than the 4.9 kg threshold for renewable hydrogen in China. Green hydrogen synthesis of methanol achieves a net negative emission of −0.83 kgCO2/kgCH3OH and the emission of green hydrogen synthesis of ammonia is 0.57 kgCO2/kgNH3. At the same time it is predicted that green hydrogen green ammonia and green methanol can contribute approximately 1766 66.62 and 30 million tons of CO2 emission reduction respectively by 2060 providing a quantitative basis for the large-scale layout and policy formulation of the hydrogen energy industry.