Review and comparison of various hydrogen production methods based on costs and life cycle impact assessment indicators

Hydrogen is a clean, renewable secondary energy source. The development of hydrogen energy is a common goal pursued by many countries to combat the current global warming trend. This paper provides an overview of various technologies for hydrogen production from renewable and non-renewable resources, including fossil fuel or biomass-based hydrogen production, microbial hydrogen production, electrolysis and thermolysis of water and thermochemical cycles. The current status of development, recent advances and challenges of different hydrogen production technologies are also reviewed. Finally, we compared different hydrogen production methods in terms of cost and life cycle environmental impact assessment. The current mainstream approach is to obtain hydrogen from natural gas and coal, although their environmental impact is significant. Electrolysis and thermochemical cycle methods coupled with new energy sources show considerable potential for development in terms of economics and environmental friendliness.