Environmental evaluation of the hydrogen value chain in Chile
This thesis evaluates the environmental impacts associated with the implementation of a total of nine green hydrogen generation projects by 2030 through electrolysers in Chile, a country with great potential for the exploitation of renewables. The objective of the work is to contribute to the unders...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/443977 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/443977 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Hydrogen -- Environmental aspects -- Chile Renewable energy sources -- Chile Water -- Electrolysis Hidrogen -- Aspectes ambientals -- Xile Energies renovables -- Xile Aigua -- Electròlisi Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies |
| Sumario: | This thesis evaluates the environmental impacts associated with the implementation of a total of nine green hydrogen generation projects by 2030 through electrolysers in Chile, a country with great potential for the exploitation of renewables. The objective of the work is to contribute to the understanding of the sustainability of electrolysis technologies to produce green hydrogen and to assess their real impact for a specific case. Additionally, it also seeks to compare from an environmental point of view the electrolyser technologies used: alkaline (AEL) and proton exchange membrane (PEM). The analysis has been carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology through the OpenLCA software, establishing a cradle-to-use system. The results have been evaluated based on different environmental impact categories, with the aim of having a broader spectrum that allows drawing solid and well-founded conclusions. The results show that the operation (OP) stage dominates in all impact categories, with renewable electricity generation being the main contributor – with contributions above 95% in most categories. Focusing on the OP stage, photovoltaic (PV) electricity represents the most important environmental burden in all categories – with contributions between 70 and 95% – except in the mineral resource scarcity, where wind electricity dominates – with roughly 55% of emissions. The systems with the greatest impacts are PV panels and wind turbines. Regarding the analysis of the projects individually, those that use only electricity from PV solar plants present the highest impacts, specifically in water consumption and land use – 0.15 m3 and 1.6 m2a crop eq per kg H2, respectively. On the other hand, the projects that depend on electricity generated by wind turbines present substantially lower impacts, with the exception of the mineral resource depletion category – with an average impact of 6.5·10-2 kg Cu eq per kg H2. Comparing the two electrolyser technologies analysed, AEL generally outperform PEM systems, mainly due to the high dependence of PEM electrolysers on precious metals (e.g., platinum and titanium). The components with the greatest impacts are the catalystcoated membranes, the cell frames, and the inverters. In general, the sustainability attributed to green hydrogen production depends on optimising electrolyser efficiency, opting for wind-based electricity generation, and reducing dependence on precious metals. |
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