International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhydene

Life cycle assessment of hydrogen fuel cell and gasoline vehicles

Mikhail Granovskii, Ibrahim Dincer∗ , Marc A. Rosen
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North,
Oshawa, Ont., Canada L1H 7K4

Received 25 February 2005; received in revised form 6 July 2005; accepted 7 October 2005
Available online 22 November 2005

Abstract
A life cycle assessment of hydrogen and gasoline vehicles, including fuel production and utilization in vehicles powered by
fuel cells and internal combustion engines, is conducted to evaluate and compare their efficiencies and environmental impacts.
Fossil fuel and renewable technologies are investigated, and the assessment is divided into various stages.
Energy efficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions are evaluated in each step for crude oil and natural gas pipeline transportation,
crude oil distillation and natural gas reformation, wind and solar electricity generation, hydrogen production through water
electrolysis, and gasoline and hydrogen distribution and utilization.
The results indicate that, when taking into account fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the efficiency
of a fuel cell vehicle employing hydrogen from natural gas should be at least 25–30% higher than a gasoline one to be competitive.
Wind electricity generation to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, and its application in a PEMFC vehicle, has the lowest
greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy consumption. However, the economic attractiveness of renewable wind technology
is shown to depend significantly on the ratio in costs between hydrogen and natural gas; when this ratio is 2:1, a financial
investment to produce hydrogen via natural gas is about five times more profitable than to do so via wind energy.
䉷 2005 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Life cycle assessment; Hydrogen; Renewable energy; Fuel cells

1. Introduction distribution and, finally, conversion of the chemical

Growing concerns about the global warming effect
and exhausting crude oil stocks have led to an interest
in hydrogen as a fuel for transportation applications.
The efficiency of applying new hydrogen technologies,
e.g., proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) ve-
hicles [1], depends on the characteristics of the many
steps and chains involved, which include production,
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 905 721 3209;
fax: +1 905 721 3140.
E-mail addresses: Mikhail.granovskiy@uoit.ca (M. Granovskii),
Ibrahim.dincer@uoit.ca (I. Dincer), Marc.Rosen@uoit.ca
(M.A. Rosen).
0360-3199/$30.00 䉷 2005 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2005.10.004
energy of hydrogen into mechanical work in a vehi-
cle. Adequate evaluation of environmental impact and
energy consumption throughout the overall hydrogen
production and utilization life cycle (from “cradle-to-
grave”), in comparison with that for gasoline, is critical
for making proper strategic decisions about its com-
petitiveness in the future. Life cycle assessment (LCA)
is a methodology for this type of assessment, and rep-
resents a systematic set of procedures for compiling
and examining the inputs and outputs of materials
and energy and the associated environmental impacts
directly attributable to the functioning of a product
or service system throughout its life cycle. A life cy-
cle is the interlinked stages of a product or service
338 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

Nomenclature
AC alternating current R universal gas constant, 8.314 J/mol K
CH4 methane Re Reynolds number
CH2 cost of hydrogen energy T0 temperature of the natural environment,
CNG cost of natural gas energy 298 K
CO2 carbon dioxide V volumetric flow
DC direct current W capacity of hydrogen production
d diameter of pipeline
E energy consumed
EEQ energy equivalent of construction materi-
p pressure losses
als and devices
Greek letters
EMB embodied energy
E energy
ratio of cost of hydrogen to natural gas
EH2 energy of hydrogen  capital investments efficiency
EOP operation energy to install, operate, main-  energy efficiency
tain, etc. equipment  viscosity
G capacity of crude oil distillation  density
GWP global warming potential w linear velocity
H2 hydrogen Subscripts
H2 O water
ICE internal combustion engine av average
IEE intensity of embodied energy cmp compressor
IPM investments to produce construction ma- dir direct
terials and devices el electricity
k number of the intermediate compressions ind indirect
l distance between consecutive compres- in input
sions ir internal resources
L pipeline length fr friction
LCA life cycle assessment gt gas turbine
LFT lifetime of a technological unit max maximal
LHV lower heating value min minimal
n mole flow rate ng natural gas
NG natural gas oil crude oil
O2 oxygen out output
p pressure pmp pump
patm pressure of the natural environment, 1atm Superscript
PEMFC proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Q heat dir direct

system, from the extraction of natural resources to final
disposal [2].
Numerous LCA studies of gasoline and hydrogen ve-
hicles have been reported in the literature [3–9]. How-
ever, the reasons for and necessities of energy losses
throughout the life cycle of the fuels, starting from
production and finishing with utilization in a vehicle,
have not been carefully considered. As a consequence,
comprehensive assessments have not been available of
why renewable technologies for hydrogen production
are economically less attractive than traditional ones.
It is especially important for advanced countries to
define ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
vehicles because of the large amounts of energy used
in such transportation. For instance, the transportation
sector of Canada is responsible for approximately 25%
of Canada’s total emissions, and three quarters of these
emissions come from road transport, primarily via per-
sonal vehicle trips. An internal combustion motor vehi-
cle produces an average of 0.35 kg of greenhouse gases
for every kilometer traveled and there were over 17 mil-
lion passenger vehicles on Canadian roads in 2002 [10].
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 339

In this article, hydrogen life cycles, for a variety of

methods for hydrogen production, are compared with
the life cycle of gasoline. This comparison is done to ob-
tain the critical efficiency of a hydrogen PEMFC stack
which allows it to be energetically competitive with the
internal combustion engine (ICE). The comparison is
performed based on fossil fuel energy consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions. Conventional technology for
natural gas conversion to hydrogen is compared with
the utilization of solar and wind energies to produce
hydrogen through electrolysis, and advantages and dis-
advantages of the technologies are considered.

2. Analysis

Hydrogen and gasoline represent the final products of

several modern technologies. The conventional produc-
tion methods are reforming of natural gas (hydrogen)
and crude oil distillation (gasoline). The principal tech-
nological steps in crude oil and natural gas utilization
in transportation are presented in Fig. 1.
Use of environmentally benign renewable technolo-
gies to generate hydrogen is considered attractive. The
principal technological steps in the utilization of solar
and wind energy to produce hydrogen are presented in
Fig. 2.
Each technological step in Figs. 1 and 2 is accompa-
nied by a consumption of fossil fuel energy
E which
can be expressed as

E =
Edir +
Eind , (1)

where
Edir is the energy content of the fuels directly
transformed into the final products, as well as the fuels
consumed to perform such transformation, and
Eind
is the fossil fuel energy embodied in construction ma-
terials and apparatuses, as well as in installation, opera-
tion, maintenance, decommissioning, etc. In this paper,
fuel energy represents the heat released by the com-
plete burning of all fuel components to CO2 and H2 O
(steam), i.e., its lower heating value (LHV). Physical
and chemical properties of fossil fuels and final fuels
are given in Table 1 and are used throughout this article.
The energy balance of each technological operation
in the crude oil and natural gas utilization scheme
(Fig. 1) can be presented as

E = Ein − Eout , (2)
where Ein is the energy content of the fuels consumed
(directly and indirectly) and Eout is the energy content
of the fuels produced.
Fig. 1. Principal technological steps in utilizing fossil fuels in two
vehicle types.
The energy efficiency  is then defined as
 = Eout /Ein . (3)
In order to compare fossil fuel and renewable tech-
nologies more correctly, it should be acknowledged that
construction materials are also produced from mineral
sources (ores, limestone, etc.) which, like fossil fuels,
have value. To account for this, the energy equivalent of
construction materials and devices (EEQ) is introduced
and the following procedure proposed to calculate the
indirect energy
Eind .
The intensities of embodied energies (cost of con-
struction materials and devices per consumed fossil fuel
energy to produce them) (IEE) are obtained using Eco-
nomic Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment Software
340 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

energy equivalents of construction materials and devices

(EEQ) are calculated as follows:
IEE · EMB IPM
EEQ = = , (5)
PNG CNG
where the values of embodied energies EMB are taken
from [12] and CNG is the industrial cost of natural gas,
equal in 1992 to 0.00316 US$/MJ [13] (this year is
chosen in order to be consistent with the data obtained
by using Life Cycle Assessment Software [11]). The
indirect energy to perform a technological operation is
evaluated with the following expression:


EEQ + EOP

Eind = , (6)
LFT


where EEQ is the summation of the energy equiv-
alents of construction materials and devices related to
a given technological operation, EOP is the operation
energy, i.e., the fossil fuel energy required for installa-
tion, construction, operation, maintenance, decommis-
sioning, etc. of the equipment, and LFT is the lifetime
of the unit performing a technological operation.
The fossil fuel and renewable technologies for hy-
drogen production are generally distinguished by (1)
Fig. 2. Principal technological steps in utilizing solar and wind source of energy consumed, (2) efficiency of hydrogen
energies in transportation. production per unit of energy consumed, and (3) cap-
ital investments made per unit of hydrogen produced.
To account for all of these differences a new indicator,
Table 1
the capital investments effectiveness , is introduced as
Physical and chemical properties of fuels a measure of economic efficiency. This indicator is pro-
portional to the relationship between the gain and in-
Fuel Density Lower heating Carbon vestments and is equal to
 (g/l) value (MJ/kg) percentage
(%) W (
− 1/)
= . (7)
Crude oila 845 42.8 85.0
Eind
Natural gas (p=1 atm, 0.654 50.1 75.0 The numerator of the fraction in Eq. (7) is proportional
T0 = 298 K)
to the gain from the exploitation of a technology and
Conventional gasolinea 737 43.7 85.5
Conventional diesela 856 41.8 87.0 the denominator to the investments made in it. Here,

Hydrogen (p = 0.0818 121.0 0 is the ratio in costs of hydrogen (CH2 ) and natural gas
1 atm, T0 = 298 K) (CNG):
a Source: [9]. CH2

= . (8)
CNG
Also, W is the capacity of hydrogen production ex-
[11], where they are expressed in US$ 1992 per unit of pressed in units of hydrogen LHV per second,
Eind is
energy: the indirect energy which is proportional to the capital
investments in a technology, and  is the energy effi-
IPM ciency which is expressible as
IEE = , (4)
EMB EH2
= . (9)
Eng +
E
where IPM denotes investments to produce construction
materials or devices and EMB denotes energy embodied In Eq. (9), EH2 is the energy content of hydrogen, Eng is
in construction materials and devices. The fossil fuel the energy content of natural gas, which is transformed
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352
Table 2
Global warming potential (GWP) of several greenhouse gases
Compound GWP relative to CO2
CO2 1
CH4 21
N2 O 310
Source: [14].
directly to hydrogen, and
E is the fossil fuel energy
consumption (direct and indirect). Note that Eng = EH2
for natural gas reforming and Eng = 0 for “renewable”
hydrogen. The initial solar and wind energies do not
have any price and, therefore, are not included in the
denominator of Eq. (9) for renewable technologies. As
a result, the values of  for these technologies can
exceed 1.
To obtain capital investments effectivenesses  for
different technologies, it is necessary to consider the
steps involved in the transformation of the initial energy
sources to the final fuels.
The direct and indirect fossil fuel energy consump-
tions lead to different kinds of harmful pollution.
In mass terms greenhouse gases (CO2 , CH4 , N2 O)
constitute the greatest part of them. The global warm-
ing potentials of these substances, according to the
International Panel on Climate Change, are given in
Table 2 [14].
To perform a LCA of the fuels considered here, it is
necessary to consider the steps involved in the trans-
formation, starting from production and finishing with
utilization in vehicles.
2.1. Natural gas and crude oil transportation
In 2002, 95% of Canadian oil and gas were
transported by pipelines, representing 180 billion
cubic meters of gas and 103 million cubic meters (860
million barrels) of oil, 60% of which was exported to
the use USA. The length of operated pipelines was
over 100,000 km [15].
These two fossil fuel technologies (Fig. 1) are charac-
terized by their pipeline transportation efficiencies. To
evaluate and compare the energy consumption and en-
vironmental impact of natural gas and crude oil pipeline
transportation, equal lengths of pipelines are consid-
ered. Pertinent average data are compiled [16–19] and
calculated (see Table 3). Mechanical work or electricity
required to perform pipeline transportation is assumed
produced by a gas turbine unit with an average effi-
ciency gt = 0.33 [16]. In a gas turbine unit, the heat
of natural gas combustion is converted into mechanical
341
work and emissions of various gases occur. The average
values of emission of gases from natural gas combus-
tion are given in Table 4.
2.1.1. Natural gas pipeline transportation
The heat of natural gas combustion is converted in gas
turbine units into mechanical work to compress gas to
transport it along the pipeline. This mechanical work is
consumed for the initial compression of natural gas from
1 atm to pmax and to overcome friction resistance. The
consumption of the natural gas energy (
Ecmp ) has been
evaluated by the formula for isothermal compression:
nRT 0

Ecmp = (ln(pmax ) + k ln(pmax /pmin )), (10)
cmp gt
where n is the molar flow of natural gas, R =
8.314 J/mol K is the universal gas constant, and k is
the number of intermediate compressions needed.
Applying the ideal gas model to the molar flow of
gas, n is calculated as
n = pav V /RT 0 , (11)
where pav = (pmax + pmin )/2 is the average pressure
in the pipeline between two intermediate compressions,
V = (d 2 /4)w is the average volumetric flow of natural
gas, d is the diameter of the gas pipeline, and w is the
linear velocity.
The number of the intermediate compressions is de-
fined by applying of the Darcy–Weisbach formula for
gas transportation:
f Lw 2 
k = L/ l = , (12)
2
pfr d
where L is the length of pipeline, l is the distance be-
tween intermediate compressions,
pfr = pmax − pmin
is the pressure drop as a result of friction,  is the aver-
age density of gas, expressible as  = (patm , T0 )pav , f
is the Fanning friction factor, which depends on quality
of pipes and the Reynolds number Re which is equal to
Re = wd/. (13)
For smooth pipes and Re = 2.0 × 107 (calculated using
data in Table 3), the friction factor f = 0.0074. The
calculated number of intermediate compressions is k =
4.4. The loss of methane in pipelines is estimated by
[20] as 1.4% of the stream. As a result, the fossil fuel
energy consumed within the natural gas transportation
system equals

E =
Edir +
Eind ,
342 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

Table 3
Typical characteristics for crude oil and natural gas pipeline transportation

Characteristic Natural gas Crude oil

Velocity in pipeline w, m/s 7.0 2.0

Diameter of pipeline d, m 0.8 0.4
Length of pipeline L, m 1.0 × 106 1.0 × 106
Viscosity of crude oil , mPa s 0.011 60.0
Efficiency of isothermal compressors (NG) and pumps (CO) 0.65 0.65
Maximal pressure in natural gas 70.0 –
pipeline pmax , atm
Minimal pressure in natural gas 50.0 –
pipeline pmin , atm
Reference − environment temperature T0 , K 298 298
Energy of input flow, MJ/s 6914 90,849
Mass of pipeline, metric tonnes 126,102 64,739
Embodied energy in pipeline, GJ 4,337,912 2,227,022
Lifetime of pipeline, years 80 80
Embodied energy in compressors and pumps, GJ 1,513,728 4,014,163
Lifetime of pumps/compressors, years 20 20

Sources: [16–18].

Table 4 that the operation energy to install, maintain and op-

Typical emissions from natural gas combustion erate the equipment is equal to the embodied energy
Pollutant Emission, g/g (NG) which is consumed to produce it. Table 6 presents the
resulting direct energy consumption. The direct green-
CO2 2.69
house gas emissions are associated with the loss of
CO 1.88 × 10−3
CH4 5.15 × 10−5
methane (natural gas) along the transportation process
N2 O 4.93 × 10−5 and its combustion in the gas turbine unit to gener-
NOx 2.24 × 10−3 ate mechanical work to perform the gas transporta-
SO2 1.34 × 10−5 tion. It can be seen in Tables 5 and 6 that the val-
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) 12.3 × 10−5 ues for indirect energy and greenhouse gas emissions
Particulates 17.0 × 10−5 are negligible compared to the same values for direct
energy:
Source: [19].

E ≈
Edir ,
Ein ≈ Ein
dir
. (17)
where

Edir = 0.014V Qng +
Ecmp (14) 2.1.2. Crude oil pipeline transportation
If the electricity or mechanical work is produced by
and Qng is the lower heating value of natural gas. a gas turbine unit and used by a pump to provide the
In compliance with the energy conservation law, if crude oil transportation, the fuel energy consumption
the output energy is equal to can be evaluated by the following formula of the pump
capacity:
Eout = V Qng (15)
V
p
dir is
Epmp = , (18)
the input direct energy Ein pmp gt
dir
Ein = Eout +
Edir . (16) where
Epmp is the fuel energy consumed by the pump,
V = (d 2 /4)w is the volumetric flow of oil, pmp is
Table 5 presents the resulting indirect energy con- the average efficiency of the oil pumps, and
p is the
sumption and indirect greenhouse gas emissions for the pressure transferred from the pump to the transported
natural gas transportation stage. It has been assumed oil.
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 343

Table 5
Indirect energy and greenhouse gas emissions for natural gas and crude oil pipeline transportation

Indirect energy of Embodied Embodied Energy CO2 -equiv.

material and equipment energy per energy equivalent per emission
in natural gas pipeline second of intensity, second of (g/s)
lifetime (MJ/s) 1992$/MJ lifetime (MJ/s)

Natural gas pipeline 1.72 0.0201a 10.9 123.5

Natural gas compressors 2.4 0.0980b 74.4 176.7
Indirect energy of Operation energy CO2 -equiv.
installation, operation, per second of emission
etc. in natural gas lifetime (MJ/s) (g/s)
pipeline
Natural gas pipeline and 4.12 300.2
compressors
Total indirect energy and Total indirect Total
greenhouse gas emissions energy per CO2 -equiv.
per MJ of natural gas second of emission
transported lifetime (MJ/s) (g/s)
1 MJ/s of Eout (natural gas) 0.013 0.086
Indirect energy of Embodied Embodied Energy CO2 -equiv.
material and equipment energy per energy equivalent per emission
in crude oil pipeline second of intensity, second of (g/s)
lifetime (MJ/s) 1992$/MJ lifetime (MJ/s)
Crude oil pipeline 0.88 0.0201 5.60 63.4
Crude oil pumps 6.37 0.0980 197.5 469.0
Indirect energy of Operation energy CO2 -equiv.
installation, operation, per second of emission
etc. in crude oil pipeline lifetime (MJ/s) (g/s)
Crude oil pipeline and pumps 7.25 532.4
Total indirect energy and Total indirect Total
greenhouse gas emissions energy per CO2 -equiv.
per MJ of crude oil second of emission
transported lifetime (MJ/s) (g/s)
1 MJ/s of Eout (crude oil) 0.0023 0.0118

a From Ref. [11] for sector: blast furnaces and steel mills.
b From Ref. [11] for sector: pumps and compressors.

Table 6 where L is the length of pipeline, d is the diameter of

Direct energy and direct greenhouse gas emissions for crude oil and the crude oil pipeline, w is the linear velocity,  is the
natural gas pipeline transportation
density of crude oil, and f is Fanning friction factor,
dir
Direct energy and greenhouse Ein
Edir CO2 -equiv.  (%) which depends on the quality of pipes and the Reynolds
gas emissions per (kJ/s) (kJ/s) emission number Re. For smooth pipes, Re = 11.3 × 103 and the
MJ of natural gas and (g/s)
respective friction factor f = 0.0306.
crude oil transported
The energy consumed in the crude oil transportation
1 MJ/s of Eout (natural gas) 1095.3 95.3 10.19 91.3 system is
1 MJ/s of Eout (crude oil) 1016.7 16.7 0.90 98.4

E =
Edir +
Eind ,

In the general case of pipeline oil transport,
p is where

mainly caused by the pressure drop
pfr due to fric-
Edir =
Epmp . (20)
tion resistance. Thus,
p ≈
pfr , where
pfr can be
evaluated by the Darcy–Weisbach formula: By the energy conservation law, if the output energy is
equal to
f Lw 2 

p ≈
pfr = , (19) Eout = V Qoil , (21)
2d
344 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

2 2 2

4 2
2 2 2

2 2
2
4
2

Fig. 3. Simplified process for hydrogen production through natural gas reforming.

where Qoil is the lower heating value and  the density

of crude oil, the input direct energy is
dir
Ein = V Qoil +
Edir . (22) 4

2
Table 5 presents the resulting indirect energy con-
sumption and indirect greenhouse gas emissions associ-
ated with the crude oil transportation stage. It has been
assumed that the operation energy to install, maintain
4
and operate the equipment is equal to the embodied en-
ergy to make it. Table 6 presents the resulting direct en-
ergy. The direct greenhouse gas emissions are only as-
sociated with the methane combustion in a gas turbine 2

unit to generate energy
Epmp to transport the oil. As

in the case of natural gas transport, the values of indi-
rect energy and indirect greenhouse gas emissions are
negligible compared to the values for direct energy: Fig. 4. Energy balance for hydrogen production through natural gas
reforming [21].

E ≈
Edir ≈
Epmp ,
Ein ≈ Ein
dir
. (23) Table 7
Hydrogen plant material requirements (base case), assuming a 20-
year lifetime and 1.5 million Nm3 /day hydrogen production capacity
2.2. Natural gas reformation and crude oil distillation (hydrogen LHV production 187.562 MJ/s)
Material Amount required Embodied
2.2.1. Reformation of natural gas (metric tonnes) energy (GJ/t)
Natural gas reforming to produce hydrogen is often
Concrete 10,242 1.4
the first stage in large-scale manufacturing of ammo- Steel 3272 34.4
nia, methanol and other synthetic fuels. A simplified Aluminium 27 201.4
diagram of hydrogen production by natural gas reform- Iron 40 23.5
ing is presented in Fig. 3. The sum of the reactions to
Source: [22].
produce hydrogen through natural gas reforming is the
following:
Neglecting the energy consumption for CH4 feed desul-
t≈950 ◦ C
CH4 + 2H2 O −→ 4H2 + CO2 − 165 kJ. (24) phurization, an energy balance for this hydrogen pro-
duction process was presented (Fig. 4) by Rosen [21].
As seen in Eq. (24), a high-temperature heat supply is The calculations here of direct energy consumption and
necessary for reforming. The required heat is provided greenhouse gas emissions are based on this diagram.
by the heat released from natural gas combustion, ac- The overall results for the reforming and transportation
cording to stages are presented in Table 10.
The indirect energy evaluation is based on the data
CH4 + O2 → CO2 + 2H2 O + 802 kJ. (25) given in [22]. In Table 7, the material requirements of
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 345

Table 8 (
Edir ) and the indirect greenhouse gas emissions com-

Energy equivalents and greenhouse gas emissions for a natural gas prise only 0.5% from the direct ones.
reforming plant

Indirect Embodied Embodied Energy CO2 -equiv. 2.2.2. Crude oil distillation
energy of energy energy equivalent per emission
materials in consumption intensity, second of (g/s)
Crude oil is directed from the oil field to a refin-
natural gas per second 1992$/MJ lifetime (MJ/s) ery plant where, by means of mechanical, physical
reforming of lifetime and chemical processes, it is converted to a finished
plant (MJ/s) fuel—gasoline and numerous other valuable prod-
Concrete 0.0227 0.0483a 0.347 8.44 ucts. A comprehensive LCA of an entire refinery is
Steel 0.178 0.0201b 1.135 12.82 not available, likely because of the wide variety of
Aluminium 0.00862 0.0205c 0.0559 0.569 processes involved. The energy efficiency and environ-
Iron 0.00149 0.0201b 0.00948 0.107 mental impact to produce 1 MJ of gasoline have been
Total 1.548 21.94 estimated (Table 10) according to the energy consump-
a From Ref. [11] for sector: concrete products, except block and tion and carbon-dioxide emission data of all petroleum
brick. refineries in the US in 1996 [23] (Table 11). The in-
b From Ref. [11] for sector: blast furnaces and steel mills.
c From Ref. [11] for sector: primary aluminium. ternal resources and internal resource energy (Eir ) in
Table 11 represent the fuel products which are ob-
tained from crude oil and then burned to drive refinery
processes.
Table 9a The values of the direct energy consumption and the
Energy for installation, operation, etc., and respective greenhouse
direct greenhouse gas emissions for crude oil trans-
gas emissions for the natural gas reforming plant
portation and distillation processes are evaluated by tak-
Energy for installation, CO2 -equiv. emission (g/s) ing into account the efficiency of crude oil and natural
operation, etc. (MJ/s) gas transportation and applying the energy conservation
0.211 21.9 law:
Eoil = GQoil ,
dir
Ein = Eoil + Eng + Eel /gt ,
Table 9b
Indirect energy and indirect greenhouse gas emissions for the natural
Eout = Eoil − Eir ,
gas transportation and reforming stages
Edir = Ein
dir
− Eout . (26)
Indirect energy for natural gas Indirect energy Total CO2 -equiv.
reforming and transportation (MJ/s) emission (g/s) Here, G, Qoil and Eoil denote mass flow rate, lower
processes (energy of natural gas heating value and energy content of crude oil, respec-
flow: 217.9 MJ/s based on LHV) tively; Eng is the energy content of natural gas, Eel is
dir is the
the electricity required to refine the crude oil, Ein
Natural gas reforming 1.759 43.8
Natural gas transportation 2.833 18.7 input flow of fossil fuel energy, and Eout is the output
Total 4.59 62.5 flow of fossil fuel.
1 MJ/s of Eout (hydrogen) 0.024 0.333 Accounting for the fact that refinery production is
dominated by production of gasoline and different fu-
els (more than 80%), we assume that the energy con-
the natural gas reformation plant are presented. The sumption is proportionally distributed between all refin-
values of the energy embodied in the materials and ery products depending on their energy contents (lower
greenhouse gas emissions which accompany this kind heating values). In this case the energy losses are at-
of energy consumption have been taken from [12]. In tributed to refinery products and, in a first approxima-
Tables 8 and 9a, 9b, the indirect energy calcu- tion, to gasoline. The resulting values are presented in
lations are presented. The same assumption, that Table 10 (second row). The greenhouse gas emissions
the operation energy and emission to install, main- are calculated as the sum of values for the crude oil re-
tain and operate the equipment is equal to its em- finery and the crude oil and required natural gas trans-
bodied energy, has been applied. Comparing the port processes.
values of direct and indirect energies and their emis- No data are available to calculate the indirect en-
sions, it can be observed that indirect energy (
Eind ) ergy consumption for the crude oil refinery process.
is more than the 10 times less than direct one However, as seen in [24], the capital cost of crude oil
346 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

Table 10
Total direct energy and direct greenhouse gas emissions for natural gas and crude oil transportation and reforming (distillation) processes

Direct transportation and dir

Ein dir
Ein
Edir CO2 -equiv.  (%)
reforming energy per MJ reforming total (MJ/s) emission
of hydrogen and gasoline (MJ/s) (MJ/s) (g/s)

1 MJ/s of Eout (hydrogen) 1.162 1.273 0.273 75.7 78.5

1 MJ/s of Eout (gasoline) 1.151 1173 0.173 12.1 85.3

distillation is lower than that for natural gas reforming. Table 11

Therefore, it can be concluded that, as in the case of the Basic parameters of oil refinery process in US, where capacity G
is 58.3 × 1010 kg crude oil per year over 355 stream days
natural gas reforming, the indirect energy and indirect
greenhouse gas emissions are negligible compared to Energy source Quantity, CO2 -equivalent
1012 kJ emissions
direct ones. (metric tonnes)

2.3. Wind and solar energy utilization to produce Eir —internal energy re-
sources (refinery gas, residual
hydrogen fuel oil, liquid petroleum 2197.2 170349.0
gases, etc.)
Hydrogen can also be produced using renewable Eng —energy of natural 887.8 51049.5
wind and solar energies to generate electricity and then gas (including energy of
electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. In these purchased steam and a lit-
tle coal)
cases there are no direct fossil fuel energy consump- Eel —electricity 117.4 22497.9
tion and direct greenhouse gas emissions, and only the
indirect energy is responsible for the environmental
impact.

2.3.1. Renewable hydrogen production via wind energy
The energy of wind is converted to mechanical work
by wind turbines and then transformed by an alterna-
tor to AC electricity which is transmitted to the power
grid (Fig. 2). The efficiency of wind turbines depends
on the location. Applications of wind energy normally
make sense only in the areas with a high wind ac-
tivity. The data for a 6 MW wind power generation
plant was taken from [25] for use here. Tables 12 and
13 present the material requirements, indirect energy
consumption, indirect greenhouse gas emissions for
this plant.
Based on data in [26] for electrolysis to produce hy-
drogen with a 72% efficiency (on an LHV basis), ac-
counting for 7% electricity loss during transmission, the
efficiency of hydrogen production is 66.9%. The indi-
rect energy and greenhouse gas emissions are 6.61%
and 5.64%, respectively, of those for a wind power gen-
eration plant [26]. Thus, a 6 MW wind power plant com-
bined with electrolysis of water could produce 4.01 MJ/s
of hydrogen.
Table 14a, b presents the values of indirect energy and
indirect greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen produc-
tion through the wind power plant and water electrol-
ysis. The efficiency of fossil fuel energy consumption
 reaches 3.46, meaning that the consumed fossil fuel
energy (embodied in materials, equipment, etc.) is 3.46
less than the energy of hydrogen produced. This value
should not be confused with the energy efficiency of
wind power generation plants, which is about 12–25%
and usually calculated as the ratio of electricity pro-
duced to the sum of all sources of input energy (mainly
kinetic energy of wind).
2.3.2. Renewable hydrogen production via solar energy
The indirect energy consumption and indirect green-
house gas emissions of a photovoltaic system have
been evaluated. The photovoltaic elements convert solar
energy into direct current (DC) electricity, which is
transformed by inverters to alternating current (AC)
electricity and transmitted to the power grid. At fu-
elling stations, AC electricity is used to electrolyze
water to produce hydrogen (Fig. 2). Data for a 1.231-
kW (average) building-integrated photovoltaic sys-
tem in Silverthorne, Colorado [18], which utilizes
thin-film amorphous silicon technology, are consid-
ered here. Tables 15 and 16a, b present the mate-
rial requirements, indirect energy consumption and
indirect greenhouse gas emissions for hydrogen pro-
duction through photovoltaic power generation and
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 347

Table 12
Material requirements and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions for a 6 MW wind power generation plant

Material Amount required Embodied CO2 -equiv. emission

(metric tonnes) energy (GJ/t) (kg/ton of material)

Concrete 7647.3 1.4 520

Copper 5.275 131 7450
Fibreglass 496.6 13 804
Steel-carbon/low alloy 1888.0 34.4 2471
Steel-stainless 226.2 53 3280

Source: [26].

Table 13
Indirect energy and greenhouse gas emissions of wind power generation plant, for capacity of 6 MW and lifetime of 25 years

Indirect energy of Embodied Embodied Energy CO2 -equiv.

materials and energy energy intensity, equivalent emission per
equipment consumption per 1992$/MJ per second second of
second of of lifetime lifetime
lifetime (MJ/s) (MJ/s) (g/s)

Concrete 0.0136 0.0483a 0.208 5.044

Copper 0.000876 0.0412b 0.0114 0.0498
Fibreglass 0.00819 0.045c 0.117 0.506
Steel-carbon/low alloy 0.0824 0.0201d 0.524 5.922
Steel-stainless 0.0152 0.0201d 0.0967 0.940
Total 0.956 12.462
Total indirect energy Energy for CO2 -equiv. Total Total
and greenhouse gas installation, emission indirect CO2 -equiv.
emissions of wind operation, etc. (g/s) energy emission
power generation plant (MJ/s) (MJ/s) (g/s)
6 MW wind power 0.131 13.60 1.087 26.06
generation plant

a From Ref. [11] for sector: concrete products, except block and brick.
b From Ref. [11] for sector: primary smelting and refining of copper.
c From Ref. [11] for sector: glass and glass products, except containers.
d From Ref. [11] for sector: blast furnaces and steel mills.

water electrolysis. A procedure similar to that used
for the wind power plant is applied to evaluate the
indirect energy and greenhouse gas emissions, which
are associated with electrolysis. Taking into account
the efficiency of electrolysis and transmission losses,
the 1.231-kW photovoltaic system combined with
water electrolysis can produce 823.5 J/s of hydrogen
energy.
2.4. Hydrogen compression
The density of hydrogen at standard conditions is
low. To assist in storage and utilization as a fuel, the
density is increased via compression. The direct fos-
sil fuel (natural gas) energy consumption
E to com-
press isothermally 1 mol of hydrogen can be expressed,
assuming ideal gas behaviour, as
RT 0

Edir = ln(pmax /pmin ). (27)
cmp gt
Here, T0 = 298 K is the standard environmental tem-
perature and R = 8.314 kJ/mol K is the universal
gas constant. Also, cmp denotes isothermal com-
pression efficiency and gt gas-turbine power plant
efficiency.
The direct energy consumed and direct greenhouse
gas emissions to compress hydrogen are evaluated (see
Table 17), assuming an isothermal compression effi-
ciency cmp of 0.65 and a typical gas-turbine power
plant efficiency gt of 0.33. A typical maximal pres-
sure pmax = 200 atm [27] has been considered. Minimal
pressures before compression of pmin = 1 and 20 atm
348 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

Table 14
Indirect energy and indirect greenhouse gas emissions for (a) hydrogen production via a wind power plant and water electrolysis and for (b)
per 1 MJ of hydrogen produced via wind power generation plant and water electrolysis

(a)
Indirect energy and greenhouse
Eind CO2 -equiv. emission
gas emissions to produce (MJ/s) (g/s)
hydrogen utilizing wind energy

6 MW wind power generation plant 1.087 26.06

Electrolysis 0.072 1.47
Total 1.159 27.5

(b)
Indirect energy and
Eind CO2 -equiv. emission  (efficiency of fossil
greenhouse gas (MJ/s) (g/s) fuel energy
emissions per 1 MJ of consumption)
hydrogen produced

1 MJ/s of Eout
(hydrogen) 0.289 6.85 3.46

Table 15
Indirect energy and greenhouse gas emissions for 1231-kW thin film photovoltaic system, with 157.2 m2 of surface area and lifetime of 30 years

Indirect energy of Embodied Embodied Energy Embodied Embodied

the solar cell unit energy energy equivalent energy in energy in solar cell
(MJ/m2 ) intensity, (MJ/m2 ) manufacturing block (GJ/unit)
1992$/MJ (MJ/m2 )

Encapsulation 0.2119 × 103 0.0498a 3.338 × 103 0.1372 × 103 546.27

Substrate 0.0256 × 103 0.0201b 0.163 × 103 0.0564 × 103 34.46
Deposition materials 0.0188 × 103 0.0498a 0.296 × 103 0.0925 × 103 61.09
Busbar 0.0051 × 103 0.0498a 0.0803 × 103 0 12.63
Back reflector 0.0007 × 103 0.0498a 0.011 × 103 0.074 × 103 13.37
Grid – – – 0.0342 × 103 5.38
Conductive oxide – – – 0.0969 × 103 15.23
Total 688.44
Indirect energy Embodied Embodied Energy CO2 -equiv. CO2 -equiv.
and greenhouse gas energy energy equivalent emission emission
emissions of system (MJ/unit) intensity, (GJ/unit) (kg/unit) (g/s)
1992$/MJ
Inverters 40 × 103 0.0880c 111.4 290 0.000306
Wiring 2.9 × 103 0.0509d 46.7 180 0.000190
Solar cell block 688.4 7320 0.00774
Total 846.5 7790 0.00823
Total indirect Energy for CO2 -equiv. Energy Total indirect Total
energy and green installation, emission per equivalent per energy per CO2 -equiv.
house gas emission operation second of second of second of emission per
for 1.231 kW thin etc. (J/s) lifetime lifetime (J/s) lifetime (J/s) second of
film PV system (g/s) lifetime (g/s)
1231 J/s electricity 78.957 0.00498 894.81 973.77 0.0132
generation

a From Ref. [11]. Sector: primary nonferrous metals.

b From Ref. [11]. Sector: blast furnaces and steel mills.
c From Ref. [11]. Sector: wiring devices.
d From Ref. [11]. Sector: miscellaneous fabricated wire products.
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 349

Table 16
Indirect energy and indirect greenhouse gas emissions for (a) hydrogen production via solar energy utilization and water electrolysis and (b)
per 1 MJ of hydrogen produced via solar energy utilization and water electrolysis

(a)
Indirect energy and green-
Eind CO2 -equiv. emission
house gas emissions to pro-
duce hydrogen utilizing solar
energy
(J/s) (g/s)

1.231-kW photovoltaic system 973.7 0.0132

Electrolysis 64.4 0.0007
Total 1038.1 0.0139

(b)
Indirect energy and green-
Eind CO2 -equiv. emission  (efficiency of fossil fuel en-
house gas emissions per 1 MJ ergy consumption)
of hydrogen produced
(J/s) (g/s)

1 MJ/s of Eout (hydrogen) 1261 × 103 16.88 0.79

Table 17 Table 18
Direct energy consumed and direct greenhouse gas emissions to Direct energy consumed and greenhouse gas emissions to distribute
compress hydrogen hydrogen and gasoline to refueling stations

Direct energy and
Edir CO2 -equiv.  (%) Direct energy and
Edir CO2 -equiv.  (%)
greenhouse gas (MJ/s) emission greenhouse gas (MJ/s) emission
emissions to compress (g/s) emissions to distribute (g/s)
hydrogen hydrogen and gasoline

Hydrogen compression 1 MJ/s of Eout 0.041 3.13 96.1

from 1 to 200 atm (hydrogen compressed, p = 200 atm)
(wind and solar energy) 1 MJ/s of Eout 0.0025 0.19 99.75
1 MJ/s of Eout 0.253 13.7 79.8 (gasoline)
(hydrogen compressed)
Hydrogen compression
from 20 to 200 atm
(natural gas reforming) in hydrogen production. The distribution of compressed
1 MJ/s of Eout 0.110 5.94 90.1 hydrogen after its production via natural gas reforming
(hydrogen compressed) (Fig. 5) is similar to that for liquid gasoline, but com-
pressed hydrogen is characterized by a lower volumetric
are taken for hydrogen production through electrolysis energy capacity and higher material requirements for a
and natural gas reformation [22], respectively. hydrogen tank.
According to the 1997 Vehicle Inventory and Use
2.5. Hydrogen and gasoline distribution Survey, the average “heavy–heavy” truck in the US
ran 6.1 miles per gallon of diesel fuel [28]. The direct
Hydrogen distribution is replaced by electricity fuel (diesel) energy consumption, assuming a distance
distribution in cases using wind and solar energy of 300 km is travelled before refuelling for a truck
(seeFig. 2) and such distribution has been accounted for with a 50 m3 tank, has been evaluated (see Table 18).

H2 Container Trucks Cars

H2 Container
H2 Container Trucks Cars
H2 Container
H2 Container Trucks Cars

Fig. 5. Illustration of hydrogen distribution from a plant for hydrogen production through natural gas reforming.
350 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352

The direct energy consumption and greenhouse gas 90

emissions are associated with the combustion of the die- 80 fuels utilization
fuels distribution
sel fuel. 70 hydrogen compression

CO2-eqivalent, g
60 fuels production

50
3. Results and discussion 40
30
The results are summarized illustratively in Figs. 20
6–10. Fig. 6 presents the fossil fuel energy consump- 10
tion to produce 1 MJ of gasoline and 1 MJ of hydrogen 0
applying different technologies. The production of Gasoline Hydrogen-nat.gas Hydrogen-wind Hydrogen-solar
gasoline from crude oil is seen to be more efficient than
Fig. 8. Greenhouse gas emissions accompanying the production and
the production of hydrogen from natural gas. Crude oil
utilization of 1 MJ (based on LHV) of gasoline and hydrogen in
and natural gas are the main energy commodities used ICE and PEMFC vehicles, respectively.
in these processes. The use of renewable technologies

1600 500
initial fossil fuels gasoline
1400 fuels distribution
hydrogen from natural gas
hydrogen compression
1200
400 hydrogen from wind energy
Energy Consumption, kJ

fuels production
CO2-equivalent, g/MJ

hydrogen from solar energy

1000
300
800

600 200

400

200
100

0
Gasoline Hydrogen-nat.gas Hydrogen-wind Hydrogen-solar 0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Fig. 6. Fossil fuel energy consumption to produce 1 MJ (based on Efficiency
LHV) of gasoline and hydrogen for utilization in ICE and PEMFC
vehicles. Fig. 9. The life cycle greenhouse gas emissions corresponding to
1 MJ of mechanical work generated in a vehicle, as a function of
ICE (gasoline) or PEMFC (hydrogen) engine efficiency.
1.2
gasoline
hydrogen from natural gas
1 hydrogen from wind energy for hydrogen production is characterized by the ab-
Mechanical Work, MJ

hydrogen from solar energy

sence of the direct fossil fuel use. Hydrogen production
0.8
via wind power and electrolysis has the lowest indirect
0.6 fossil fuel energy use. The photovoltaic system has the
highest fossil fuel energy embodied in materials and
0.4 equipment.
The chemical energies of gasoline and hydrogen are
0.2
converted to work with different efficiencies in an in-
0 ternal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle and a PEMFC
0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 vehicle. The efficiency ranges from 0.2 to 0.3 for an
Efficiency ICE engine [16] and from 0.4 to 0.6 for a PEMFC en-
Fig. 7. Mechanical work produced, as a function of ICE (gasoline)
gine [1]. Fig. 7 shows the mechanical work produced
and PEMFC (hydrogen) vehicle efficiency, corresponding to the per unit fossil fuel energy consumption as a function
fossil fuel energy used to produce 1 MJ (based on LHV) of gasoline of engine efficiency. This figure indicates that the effi-
and hydrogen. ciency of a PEMFC vehicle operating on hydrogen from
 M. Granovskii et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 31 (2006) 337 – 352 351

35 materials requirements of wind per unit of electricity

hydrogen from natural gas generated. A fair assessment when comparing different
30 hydrogen from wind energy renewable technologies requires consideration of both
25 hydrogen from solar energy energy efficiency (ability to convert renewable energy
20 into mechanical work or electricity) and the efficiency
of construction materials and equipment exploitation.
γ

15

10

5 4. Conclusion
0
1 1.5 2 Life cycle assessment has been used to compare
α hydrogen-fuelled PEMFC vehicles to traditional inter-
nal combustion engine vehicles operating on gasoline.
Fig. 10. Capital investment efficiency  for several hydrogen pro-
duction processes as a function of the cost ratio
for hydrogen and
Energy efficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions
natural gas. have been evaluated during all process steps, includ-
ing crude oil and natural gas pipeline transportation,
crude oil distillation and natural gas reformation, wind
and solar electricity generation, hydrogen production
natural gas must be at least 25–30% greater than that for
through water electrolysis, and gasoline and hydrogen
an ICE gasoline engine to be competitive. Treating wind
distribution and utilization. The use of wind power to
energy as free, hydrogen via wind is characterized by a
produce hydrogen via electrolysis, and its application
high (more than 1) ratio of mechanical work production
in a PEMFC vehicle, is characterized by the lowest
per unit fossil fuel energy consumption.
greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy con-
The diagram in Fig. 8 illustrates the greenhouse gas
sumption. However, the economic attractiveness of
emissions for the life cycles of fuels, from production
wind technology depends significantly on the ratio in
to utilization in vehicles. Since the use of 1 MJ of gaso-
costs for hydrogen and natural gas. At a cost ratio of 2,
line is accompanied by the release of 71.7 g of CO2 ,
capital investments are about five times lower to pro-
gasoline and hydrogen from natural gas are seen to
duce hydrogen via natural gas than to produce hydrogen
be characterized by almost the same greenhouse gas
via wind energy. We plan to analyse in the future the
emissions. Hydrogen production via wind and solar en-
air pollutants for the technologies considered here to
ergy reduces greenhouse gas emissions considerably.
evaluate the relationship between their environmental
Accounting for the higher efficiency of a PEMFC en-
impact and economic attractiveness.
gine (Fig. 9), greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced
from 40% where hydrogen is obtained from natural gas
to 85% where hydrogen is obtained from renewable
wind energy. Acknowledgements
Technologies for hydrogen production via wind and
solar energy are not more widespread due to economic The financial support provided by an Ontario Pre-
challenges. To better understand these challenges, we mier’s Research Excellence Award, the Natural Sciences
consider the capital investments efficiency  introduced and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Uni-
in Eq. (7). Fig. 10 presents , as a function of the cost versity of Ontario and Institute of Technology is grate-
ratio
for hydrogen and natural gas, for energy ef- fully acknowledged.
ficiencies of  = 0.785 for hydrogen via natural gas
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