Economic analysis of hydrogen production from wastewater and wood for municipal bus system

•Hydrogen levelized cost calculated for 300 kg H2/day using wood and biogas.•Wood gasification, fuel cell and steam methane reforming considered.•H2A used to calculate cost, greenhouse gas emissions.•All considered technologies provide 60%+ reduction in greenhouse emissions.•Steam methane reforming competitive to diesel on a cost/km basis.

The levelized cost of hydrogen for municipal fuel cell buses has been determined using the DOE H2A model for steam methane reforming (SMR), molten carbonate fuel cell reforming (MCFC), and wood gasification using wastewater biogas and willow wood chips as energy feedstocks. 300 kg H2/day was chosen as the design capacity. Greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for each for the three processes and compared to diesel bus emissions in order to assess environmental impact. The levelized cost per kilogram for SMR, MCFC, and gasification is $5.12, $8.59, and $10.62, respectively. SMR provided the lowest sensitivity to feedstock price, and lowest levelized cost at various scales, with competitive cost to diesel on a cost/km basis. All three technologies provide a reduction in total greenhouse gases compared to diesel bus emissions, with MCFC providing the largest reduction. These results provide preliminary evidence that small scale distributed hydrogen production for public transportation can be relatively cost-effective and have minimal environmental impact.