Sustainability of a wind-hydrogen energy system: Assessment using a novel index and comparison to a conventional gas-fired system

•Development of a new methodology to assess the sustainability of a wind-hydrogen system.•Analysis of this system to meet the energy needs of a small community in southern Ontario.•Assessment of integrated sustainability index (ISI) through multi-criteria assessment.•Comparison of this sustainable system with a conventional gas-fired system.

This study applies a previously developed methodology to assess the sustainability of a wind-hydrogen system designed to meet the energy needs of a small community in southern Ontario. A thermodynamic analysis demonstrates that the energy system can meet the heating, cooling, and electrical energy needs of the 50-household community with a wind turbine rotor radius of 28 m and hydrogen storage capacity of 8550 kg. A subsequent multi-criteria assessment reveals that the Integrated Sustainability Index (ISI) is particularly sensitive to weighting factors associated with Affordability, Global Warming Potential, and Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Potential sub-indicators. Although the individualist ISI only varies from 0.77 to 0.90, the egalitarian ISI varies from 0.30 to 0.75 over a range of weighting factors. A comparative assessment of a wind-hydrogen and traditional gas-fired system shows that there is very little difference in the ISI of each system. The individualist ISI is 0.84 and 0.86 and the egalitarian ISI is 0.56 and 0.52 for the wind-hydrogen and gas-fired system, respectively. This suggests that superficial assessments of sustainability should be avoided and that multi-criteria analysis is essential.