Techno-economic and environmental analysis of clean hydrogen deployment: A case study of Los Angeles International Airport

IF 9.9 1区工程技术 Q1 ENERGY & FUELS

Energy Conversion and Management Pub Date : 2025-05-24 DOI:10.1016/j.enconman.2025.119946

Sajjad Rezaei , Khaled Alsamri , Elio Simeoni , Jacqueline Huynh , Jack Brouwer

{"title":"Techno-economic and environmental analysis of clean hydrogen deployment: A case study of Los Angeles International Airport","authors":"Sajjad Rezaei , Khaled Alsamri , Elio Simeoni , Jacqueline Huynh , Jack Brouwer","doi":"10.1016/j.enconman.2025.119946","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The primary strategy for addressing environmental concerns related to global aviation emissions is transitioning to low-carbon propulsion technologies. Hydrogen (H2) offers significant potential as a sustainable fuel, with anticipated zero to low carbon emissions. This study develops a methodological framework that integrates on-site electrolytic H2 production, storage, and transportation for airport applications. For the first time, the techno-economic feasibility of supplying clean liquid hydrogen (LH2) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to support its transition toward sustainable operations by 2050 is comprehensively analyzed. The results underscore the critical role of integrating long-term H2 storage and short-term battery storage solutions to establish a reliable, self-sustained microgrid system at LAX. The estimated levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) ranges from $6.77 to $7.10 per kilogram of H2 in 2030, decreasing significantly to approximately $3.78 per kilogram of H2 by 2050, showing the viability of deploying clean H2 at LAX. Additionally, this study, for the first time, quantifies the global warming potential (GWP) of clean H2 supply pathways for airport applications, revealing a range of 0.29 to 0.35 kg CO2-eq/kg H2 by 2050, with H2 venting from electrolysis identified as the dominant contributor. The findings emphasize the feasibility of H2 as a sustainable aviation fuel and provide actionable strategies for its implementation at LAX. This work advances the hydrogen aviation field by bridging the gap between the general clean H2 supply chain strategies and the specific needs of the aviation sector, thereby contributing to California’s ambitious climate goals. Future research is recommended to address limitations in cost optimization, lifecycle impacts, policy incentives, and safety innovations, enabling the scalable and practical implementation of H2 as a sustainable aviation fuel at airports.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11664,"journal":{"name":"Energy Conversion and Management","volume":"340 ","pages":"Article 119946"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy Conversion and Management","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890425004704","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The primary strategy for addressing environmental concerns related to global aviation emissions is transitioning to low-carbon propulsion technologies. Hydrogen (H₂) offers significant potential as a sustainable fuel, with anticipated zero to low carbon emissions. This study develops a methodological framework that integrates on-site electrolytic H₂ production, storage, and transportation for airport applications. For the first time, the techno-economic feasibility of supplying clean liquid hydrogen (LH₂) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to support its transition toward sustainable operations by 2050 is comprehensively analyzed. The results underscore the critical role of integrating long-term H₂ storage and short-term battery storage solutions to establish a reliable, self-sustained microgrid system at LAX. The estimated levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) ranges from $6.77 to $7.10 per kilogram of H₂ in 2030, decreasing significantly to approximately $3.78 per kilogram of H₂ by 2050, showing the viability of deploying clean H₂ at LAX. Additionally, this study, for the first time, quantifies the global warming potential (GWP) of clean H₂ supply pathways for airport applications, revealing a range of 0.29 to 0.35 kg CO₂-eq/kg H₂ by 2050, with H₂ venting from electrolysis identified as the dominant contributor. The findings emphasize the feasibility of H₂ as a sustainable aviation fuel and provide actionable strategies for its implementation at LAX. This work advances the hydrogen aviation field by bridging the gap between the general clean H₂ supply chain strategies and the specific needs of the aviation sector, thereby contributing to California’s ambitious climate goals. Future research is recommended to address limitations in cost optimization, lifecycle impacts, policy incentives, and safety innovations, enabling the scalable and practical implementation of H₂ as a sustainable aviation fuel at airports.

查看原文本刊更多论文

清洁氢部署的技术经济和环境分析：以洛杉矶国际机场为例

解决与全球航空排放有关的环境问题的主要战略是向低碳推进技术过渡。氢（H2）作为可持续燃料具有巨大的潜力，有望实现零至低碳排放。本研究开发了一个方法框架，将现场电解氢气生产、储存和运输集成到机场应用中。首次全面分析了向洛杉矶国际机场（LAX）供应清洁液态氢（LH2）以支持其到2050年向可持续运营过渡的技术经济可行性。研究结果强调了整合长期氢气存储和短期电池存储解决方案对于在洛杉矶国际机场建立可靠、自我维持的微电网系统的关键作用。到2030年，氢气（LCOH）的平均成本估计在每公斤氢气6.77美元至7.10美元之间，到2050年将大幅下降至每公斤氢气约3.78美元，这表明在LAX部署清洁氢气的可行性。此外，本研究首次量化了机场应用中清洁H2供应途径的全球变暖潜势（GWP），揭示了到2050年二氧化碳当量为0.29至0.35 kg /kg H2的范围，其中电解排放的H2被确定为主要贡献者。研究结果强调了氢气作为可持续航空燃料的可行性，并为其在洛杉矶国际机场的实施提供了可行的策略。这项工作通过弥合一般清洁H2供应链战略与航空业特定需求之间的差距，推动了氢航空领域的发展，从而为加州雄心勃勃的气候目标做出了贡献。未来的研究建议解决成本优化、生命周期影响、政策激励和安全创新方面的限制，使氢气作为可持续航空燃料在机场的可扩展和实际实施。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Energy Conversion and Management 工程技术-力学

CiteScore

19.00

自引率

11.50%

发文量

1304

审稿时长

17 days

期刊介绍： The journal Energy Conversion and Management provides a forum for publishing original contributions and comprehensive technical review articles of interdisciplinary and original research on all important energy topics. The topics considered include energy generation, utilization, conversion, storage, transmission, conservation, management and sustainability. These topics typically involve various types of energy such as mechanical, thermal, nuclear, chemical, electromagnetic, magnetic and electric. These energy types cover all known energy resources, including renewable resources (e.g., solar, bio, hydro, wind, geothermal and ocean energy), fossil fuels and nuclear resources.