Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HyPEF (Promoting an environmentally-responsible Hydrogen economy by enabling Product Environmental Footprint studies)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-01-01 do 2025-06-30
Fuel cells and hydrogen (FCH) systems are increasingly considered in energy and climate policies, roadmaps and plans all over the world. In order to avoid past criticalities, such as those leading to a climate emergency situation, sustainability criteria are being progressively implemented in these initiatives, e.g. by promoting low-carbon renewable hydrogen in Europe. In this regard, science-based criteria and procedures are required to guarantee the environmental suitability of FCH products, reporting their life-cycle environmental profile according to the principles of transparency, traceability, reproducibility, and consistency for comparability. While these principles are aligned with those of the general methodological guidance for Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) studies, further specification is required to effectively implement them when addressing FCH products. Hence, the HyPEF project aspires to support and promote the establishment of an environmentally-responsible hydrogen economy by developing and testing the first Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) specific to FCH products, while paving the way for subsequent related initiatives in the FCH sector.
HyPEF develops and tests the first PEFCRs specific to FCH products, paving the way for subsequent PEF initiatives in the FCH sector. To that end, HyPEF relies not only on the general PEF guidelines provided in the European Commission recommendation 2021/2279, but also on past and recent initiatives in the fields of life cycle assessment (LCA) and FCH systems. In other words, HyPEF is conceptualised as the natural step forward in methodological specification towards policy- and market-relevant life-cycle environmental assessment and benchmarking of FCH products. This is achieved through a synergistic approach that considers the common PEF framework, efforts already made in the Environmental Footprint pilot phase, general guidelines for LCA of product systems (international standards, ILCD Handbook, etc.), and LCA guidelines specific to FCH product systems (e.g. SH2E guidelines for LCA of FCH systems). The development strategy involves the following key steps: product categorisation after market analysis of FCH systems, iterative PEFCRs formulation for three FCH product categories, testing of the FCH-PEFCRs, consultation & review process, and analysis of policy implications regarding possible adoption of policies implementing HyPEF outcomes. During the first half of the project, the HyPEF consortium has set the ground for FCH-PEFCRs. In particular, FCH product categories have already been defined. Moreover, a draft PEF study has been completed for the representative products of three selected FCH product (sub)categories: electrochemical devices for hydrogen production, tanks for compressed hydrogen storage for heavy duty mobility, and hydrogen fuel cells intended for electricity production.
The interdisciplinary approach behind HyPEF leads to crucial advancements regarding (i) the first development and application of well-accepted PEFCRs tailored to three selected FCH product categories (devices for hydrogen production, tanks for hydrogen storage, and hydrogen fuel cells intended for electricity production), (ii) increased high-quality data availability for consistent environmental assessment and benchmarking of FCH products, and (iii) first PEF-oriented policy recommendations towards official qualification of an FCH product as an environmentally-responsible investment. Furthermore, these advancements are expected to have a very high international impact by enabling similar future PEF initiatives dealing with FCH product categories other than those addressed in HyPEF. During the first half of the project, important progress has already been made towards the development of the first draft of FCH-PEFCRs for the three selected product categories. Moreover, progress towards increased data availability has also been made through the draft PEF study completed for the representative products of three selected FCH product (sub)categories.