Technical and Economic Assessment of Regional Hydrogen Transition Strategies

Hydrogen offers potential advantages as a future energy carrier, with respect to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, and enhanced energy supply security. However, the current lack of an extensive hydrogen (H2) infrastructure is often cited as a serious barrier to the introduction of H2 as an energy carrier, and to the commercialization of technologies such as H2 vehicles. Because H2 can be made at a wide range of scales (from household to large city) and from a variety of primary sources (fossil, renewable and nuclear), there are many possible pathways for producing and distributing H2 to users. One of the key challenges is developing a viable transition strategy toward widespread use of hydrogen, supplying hydrogen to growing markets at the lowest cost.