Hydrogen utilization in various transportation modes with emissions comparisons for Ontario, Canada

The paper compares the atmospheric emissions of different hydrogen production scenarios for various transportation modes in a case study for Ontario, Canada. Hydrogen demand scenarios are based on historical data of the various transportation modes. Predicting the CO2 emissions for a market with hydrogen vehicles against a purely fossil fuel market outlines the benefits of utilizing hydrogen. For road vehicles less than 4,500 kg in weight, emissions from a thermochemical production fraction of 20% produced a 9.8% decrease in CO2 emissions (or over 3,000 kilotonnes), compared to a 100% fossil fuel market. When these studies are applied to other transportation modes such as rail, air and marine, similar trends are observed. The largest benefits occur from automobiles and rail, where increasing carbon emission trends were reversed due to the increasing hydrogen propulsion base. Further decreases in carbon dioxide emissions could be realized by lower emitting production sources such as nuclear thermochemical production and electrolysis from wind, solar, and hydro.

► Emissions are compared forvarious hydrogen production methods and transportation modes.
► Road vehicles had a 9.8% decrease in emissions compared to an all fossil fuel market at 15% H2share and 20% thermochemical production share.
► The largest reduction of CO2 emissions from hydrogen utilization occurred from automobiles and rail.