Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessments of Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage in Blue Hydrogen Production

Abstract This study evaluates the techno-economic and life-cycle carbon assessments of blue hydrogen production via steam methane reforming (SMR) with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at the Escalante hydrogen facility, under the CarbonSAFE project. SMR with carbon capture was simulated in ChemCAD, while an integrated asset model was developed to simulate the carbon dioxide (CO2) compression, transportation, and injection. The results show that SMR without CCS has a carbon footprint of 11.99 kgCO2e/kgH2. Integrating CCS which captures over 95% of CO2 emissions, reduces this footprint to as low as 6.59 kgCO2e/kgH2, but raises the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) from $1.82/kgH2 (no CCS) to $3.22/kgH2 (with CCS, no tax credit) and $2.59/kg H2 (with a 45Q tax credit). Consequently, the levelized net present value (NPV) declines from $0.87/kgH2 without CCS to $0.74/kgH2 with CCS, due to the added costs of carbon capture, transport, and storage. Pipeline route analysis shows that longer routes and challenging terrains modestly increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while powering SMR with nuclear and renewable sources especially wind and hydro, yields the lowest life-cycle emissions compared to geothermal or hydropower. Sensitivity analyses identify hydrogen selling price, internal rate of return (IRR), and CCS cost as the key drivers of economic feasibility whereas grid electricity consumption is the main contributor to lifecycle emissions. These findings underscore the trade-off between higher production costs and lower emissions, demonstrating that policy incentives, cleaner electricity sources, and robust hydrogen markets are pivotal to advancing low-carbon hydrogen production.