Interactive framework for techno-economic meta-analysis of marine hydrogen transportation

TL;DR

This paper introduces an interactive meta-analysis framework for evaluating the costs of various hydrogen transportation methods, accounting for uncertainties and different scenarios, to aid decision-making in hydrogen supply chain development.

Contribution

It presents a novel, dynamic meta-analysis model and online tool that compare hydrogen transportation options under varying assumptions and methodologies, incorporating emerging technologies.

Findings

The framework enables comprehensive comparison of hydrogen carriers like GH2, LH2, LOHC, and ammonia.

It assesses the impact of different costing methodologies and fuel types on transportation costs.

Demonstrates applicability to emerging lower-TRL hydrogen technologies such as hydrogen clathrate hydrates.

Abstract

As a result of the wide span of uncertainties and input variables considered in recent peer-reviewed studies on hydrogen supply chains, consensus and generalized insight are hard to derive. This work presents a meta-analysis model, building upon a growing database of literature cost estimations and enabling dynamic investigation and comparison of hydrogen transportation chains under varying input scenarios. Also built into the framework is the evaluation of the impact of costing methodology and shipping fuel type. A convenient online interface allows to leverage increasing amounts of underlying cost data and assists users in gaining insight into generalized cost dynamics attributes. The method and toolbox are demonstrated via in-depth analysis of compressed hydrogen (GH2), liquefied hydrogen (LH2), dibenzyltoluene (LOHC) and ammonia as hydrogen carriers. Confined hydrogen clathrate hydrates are used as an example to demonstrate how one can deal with lower-TRL candidate technologies.