Is China ready for a hydrogen economy? Feasibility analysis of hydrogen energy in the Chinese transportation sector

Jingzhi Huang, Danni Lu, Xianan Huang, Zhenda Hu, Lin Liu, Changzhui Lin, Rui Jing, Chunping Xie, Nigel Brandon, Xuyue Zheng and Yingru Zhao

Renewable Energy, 2024, vol. 223, issue C

Abstract: Hydrogen plays a crucial role in achieving deep decarbonization in the global transportation sector. This study aims to identify an efficient development strategy for hydrogen energy in China's transportation sector. We propose a market acceptance model integrated with life cycle assessment to analyze the feasibility of adopting hydrogen energy in this sector. We develop a profit-fairness optimization model to maximize the profits of the entire industrial chain, ensuring a fair distribution across upstream, midstream, and downstream components. The study finds that hydrogen energy is currently not feasible in China's transportation sector, with consumer preference close to zero. With the anticipated decrease in the cost of future hydrogen applications, achieving suitable development of the industrial chain requires optimal profitability: 39.44 % in production, storage, and delivery industries, and 11.14 % in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle manufacturing industry in our case. Recommended future marketing strategies include increasing the profitability of production, storage, and delivery industries through guaranteed market-acceptable prices. Additionally, adopting a thin margin strategy for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle manufacturing industries and prioritizing subsidies.

Keywords: Transportation sector decarbonization; Hydrogen energy; Life cycle assessment; Scale economy benefits model; Industrial chain; Consumer preference rate; Optimization model; Marketing strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:223:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124000296

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.119964

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