Vehicle-oriented and Sweden-framed life cycle assessment: Hydrogen for long-haul trucks

Journal article, 2025

Hydrogen trucks are an alternative for decarbonizing the long-haul segment. However, the environmental footprint benefits depend on how hydrogen is produced, transported, and used but also in truck characteristics. We conduct life cycle assessment to quantify the impacts per ton-km. For centralized production, we included electrolysis and steam reforming cases, with dedicated transportation pathways but also included production onsite. We evaluated fuel cells and combustion engines and included supply chain hydrogen leakages. We found that global warming potential (GWP) of different truck versions varies up to 50tCO2eq per vehicle. Additionally, electrolysis powered by the Swedish grid appears more competitive than blue hydrogen, for most cases evaluated. For high hydrogen leakage scenarios (∼30%), GWP of green hydrogen, per ton-km, increases 2-fold. The low payload of tanker ships transporting hydrogen nullifies the benefits of importing green hydrogen. Truck manufacturing industries and low-carbon electricity enhance the potential for hydrogen to decarbonize the segment in Sweden.