Pathways to global hydrogen production within planetary boundaries

Pathways to global hydrogen production within planetary boundaries | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Pathways to global hydrogen production within planetary boundaries Michael Hauschild, Michaël Lejeune, Sami Kara, Sareh Shahrabifarahani, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5917828/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Hydrogen is regarded as a key lever for decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors and industries. Future projections suggest that a significant increase in global hydrogen production is required to limit global warming to 1.5°C. However, the planetary footprint of global hydrogen production is not well understood, particularly when considering potential interactions between Earth's biophysical systems. This study quantifies planetary footprint using a bottom-up hydrogen production system considering potential planetary boundary interactions. Here, we show that from 2025 to 2050, even under the most sustainable scenarios, global hydrogen production is unsustainable with multiple boundary transgressions. As opposed to current trends, we find that biomass-based production has the potential to amplify boundary transgression levels. We also find that an increased electrolytic hydrogen production capacity with concurrent carbon removal will be required to alleviate the planetary footprint of global hydrogen production. Our general analysis confirms the need to re-evaluate the “green hydrogen” concept, which, besides the sole focus on climate change, largely overlooks critical interactions between Earth's biophysical systems. Therefore, achieving absolute sustainability for global hydrogen production will require reconsidering environmentally viable production pathways. Scientific community and society/Energy and society/Energy efficiency Scientific community and society/Energy and society/Energy supply and demand Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files supplementarymaterials.pdf Supplementary information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5917828","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":408779014,"identity":"55a5e1ba-5937-46fc-aa98-3a0cb9d281f2","order_by":0,"name":"Michael 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