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Green hydrogen technologies have emerged as promising technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Produced using renewable energy through water electrolysis, green hydrogen offers a carbon-free alternative for sectors like heavy industry and long-haul transport, and enhances energy system resilience by storing green electricity chemically. As an increasing number of technologies for converting electricity to hydrogen and vice versa are developed, accurately assessing their environmental impacts along their value chain is crucial for informed eco-design and technology selection.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely used and recognized methodology for evaluating the environmental impacts of technologies along their life cycle. Despite standardization under ISO 14040 and 14044, and sector-specific efforts like HyGuide and SH2E to improve LCA modeling for hydrogen technologies, current practices still face challenges in providing a harmonized and coherent framework for assessing emerging technologies such as electrolysers and fuel cells. Discrepancies in process trees, terminology, and parameters can lead to significant inconsistencies between studies. Moreover, a common ground to enhance communication and exchanges between technology developers and LCA practitioners needs to be further developed.

To address these challenges, we aim to develop a harmonized, open-source modular framework for consistently assessing green hydrogen technologies such as AEL, AEMEL, PEMEL, SOEL, PCCEL, AEMFC, PEMFC, and SOFC. Our tool features a single modular LCA process-tree structure with unified unit processes defined by a comprehensive set of key parameters (efficiency, sizing, geometry, …), ensuring consistency across all electrolysers and fuel cell technologies. It also includes standardized terminology mapping over 150 terms and synonyms to ease terminology issues.

Implemented in a user-friendly application, this tool generates clear and comparable LCA results and features ready-to-use databases tailored to green hydrogen technology, intended for community updates to keep pace with innovation advancements.

This work complements existing hydrogen LCA guidelines by enhancing communication between technology developers and LCA practitioners. It promotes robust and modular LCAs with appropriate detail and aggregation, improving comparability and identifying key environmental performance determinants. Ultimately, it facilitates more transparent assessments supporting informed decision-making and eco-design.