Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint evaluation of a PEMFC system integrated with different hydrogen production routes

Controlling carbon emissions is crucial for combating climate change, and fuel cell technologies play a key role in reducing carbon emissions. In this study, a PEMFC system integrated with two hydrogen production routes from coalbed methane recovery and biomass gasification is proposed. Four scenarios of the two hydrogen production routes considering carbon capture are established. Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint evaluation are employed to scrutinize the environmental impact and carbon emissions associated with the proposed system. According to the life cycle assessment results, biomass gasification exhibits a lower environmental impact compared to coalbed methane under identical conditions. The construction phase stands out as the most environmentally impactful stage, emphasizing the importance of optimizing construction materials to minimize ecological harm. The carbon emission results indicate that the primary carbon emissions originate from the usage phase of the system. Moreover, the addition of carbon capture devices can reduce carbon emissions by about 10 %. From the carbon efficiency results, optimizing the fuel cell component is recommended as an effective strategy to enhance carbon efficiency. Based on the comparative results, using biomass resources instead of coalbed methane to produce hydrogen for supplying the PEMFC system is a viable approach.