The purpose of the Hydrogen Life Cycle and Sustainability Analysis (LCSA) Taskforce is to understand how participating institutes assess the life-cycle carbon footprint and other sustainability indicators of hydrogen production and how their methods vary. As hydrogen is widely considered an important energy carrier for decarbonization and many countries have national hydrogen strategies, credible LCSA is essential for decision-making. However, differences in national context, boundary conditions, energy sources and affordable infrastructure can lead to inconsistent results and complicate comparison across countries.

Key facts

Leader: Dr. Amgad Elgowainy (https://www.anl.gov/profile/amgad-a-elgowainy)
Co-leader: Dr. Nawshad Haque (https://people.csiro.au/H/N/Nawshad-Haque)
Member institutions:
Argonne National Laboratory, United States
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Republic of South Africa
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Germany
French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France
Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission
National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia
National Research Council Canada (NRC), Canada
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India
Activity period: Post-4th RD20, 2023, to Pre-5th RD20, 2024 (launched under the consensus of the 4th RD20 Conference that a taskforce should be formed that focuses on the topic of Hydrogen LCSA)
Status: Completed

Objectives

The principal objective of the H₂ LCSA Taskforce’s work is to gain an understanding of the proper way to account for carbon footprints.
The underlying objectives for gaining that understanding are, in turn, to:
(1) provide overviews of situations, priorities and road maps related to hydrogen Life Cycle Assessment and sustainability indicators at the national level;
(2) propose priorities for R&D, demonstrations and experimentation at the international level; and
(3) provide sound advice with a common voice to RD20 countries.

Research overview

The goal is to discover commonalities in life cycle assessment methodologies and sustainability analysis indicators. The consensus decision was that these reports should lead to:
(1) finding common metrics and harmonized methodologies on the carbon intensity of H₂ or H₂ carriers;
(2) sharing assumptions and boundary conditions that determine the analysis with performance requirements; and
(3) sharing data to enhance LCA inventory.

Additional considerations included:
(a) incorporating sustainability and social acceptance;
(b) incorporating safety aspects and recycling possibilities;
(c) considering local specificities and environmental justice;
(d) coordinating with the IPHE (International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy) running task force, as well as other initiatives; and
(e) analyzing practical scenarios and solutions that could help, rather than just “ideal” cases.

Progress and outputs

Status report papers from H₂ LCSA Taskforce countries had already been published in the journals “Frontiers in Energy” and “Frontiers in Energy Research” as listed below.
Going forward, there’s a need to strike a balance between developing and applying a more unified standard methodology for H2 life-cycle assessments while still recognizing country-specific conditions and situations. Such a methodology could be applied to the reports already generated, with the resulting revised findings presented at a future RD20 event.

Published papers:
The Taskforce’s publications were published in two journals: four country status papers in Frontiers in Energy (Vol. 19, Issue 6, Dec 2025) as part of a special issue, and the United States country status paper in Frontiers in Energy Research.

Journal: Frontiers in Energy Vol. 19 (6), 2025 (Renamed to Engineering Energy from 2026)
https://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/2025/19/6
(JP)
Title: Life cycle CO2 emissions of international hydrogen supply chains envisaged in Japan
Author: Kudo, Y., Ozawa, A.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-025-0979-3
(AU)
Title: Life cycle assessment methodology evaluation and greenhouse gas impact of hydrogen production routes in Australia
Author: Musa, M., Hosseini, T., Lai, T. Haque, N., Giddey, S.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-024-0962-4
(SA)
Title: Life cycle assessment of green ammonia production at a coastal facility in South Africa
Author: Stafford, W. H. L., Chaba, K. J., Russo, V., Goga, T., Roos, T. H., Sharp, M., Nahman, A.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-025-1013-5
(CA)
Title: Life cycle assessment of hydrogen production pathways to support hydrogen decarbonization policies in a Canadian context
Author: Gonzales-Calienes, G., Kannangara, M., Yang, J., Shadbahr, J., Bensebaa, F., Alvarez-Majmutov, A., Chen, J., Ghavidel Mehr, N., Benali, M.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-025-1008-2

Journal: Frontiers in Energy Research, Vol. 12, 2024
(U.S.)
Title: Environmental life-cycle analysis of hydrogen technology pathways in the United States
Authors: Elgowainy, A., Vyawahare, P., Ng, C., Frank, E.D., Bafana, A., Burnham, A., Sun, P., Cai, H., Lee, U., Reddi, K., Wang, M.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2024.1473383