Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources EngineersISSN:2288-0291(Print) 2288-2790(Online)한국자원공학회

Economic and sensitivity analyses of grey and blue hydrogen were conducted using statistical data from the United States. This study indicated that the production costs of grey and blue hydrogen were 1.519 and 1.568 $/kg H₂, respectively. The blue hydrogen would be more economically attractive than the grey hydrogen if the carbon credit was higher than 32.3 $/ton CO₂, tax credit was higher than 70 $/ton CO₂, or maximum tax credit period was longer than 14.6 years. In the sensitivity analysis, the production cost of the blue hydrogen was most sensitive to the maximum tax credit period, followed by tax credit, and carbon credit, in order of sensitivity. Thus, volatility of the carbon and tax credits should be considered in the economic analysis of the blue hydrogen because they have a major impact on the its production cost. In addition, the unit import costs of the blue hydrogen for hydrogen carrier types were 2.716, 5.205, 3.232 $/kg H₂ for liquid organic hydrogen carriers, liquefied hydrogen, and ammonia, respectively.