Hydrogen

Hydrogen is an alternative fuel that can be produced from a variety of resources. Government—including the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technology Office—and industry are engaged in research and development (R&D) to improve production and distribution and reduce emissions and costs for hydrogen use in fuel cell electric vehicles (DOE, 2024a). For information about hydrogen production pathways, see the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Hydrogen Analysis Lite Production Model.

On this page, explore the fuel price and emissions intensity of hydrogen fuel at the retail level. 

Emissions estimates use the Argonne National Laboratory's Research & Development Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (R&D GREET) model (Wang et al., 2023). The underlying source for a value in the table can be seen by placing your mouse cursor over that value. The data sources are also cited—with linked references—in the Key Assumptions section next.

(NREL, 2024) (Lewis et al., 2022) (DOE, 2024b) (Bracci et al., 2024) (Penev et al., 2024) (NREL, 2022)

Key Assumptions

The data and estimates presented here are based on the following key assumptions:

• Fuel Price: The prices shown are associated with particular years; because we do not provide a time-series trajectory, we show fuel prices at a frozen level for all years so we can offer a range of fuel price snapshots. In the levelized cost of driving (LCOD) and emissions charts, this approach clearly distinguishes effects of fuels from those of vehicle technologies because fuels remain constant, whereas vehicle technologies change over time.
• Price Variability: Current market hydrogen prices are highly variable because of hydrogen's lower market maturity. Fuel costs, which are sometimes included in leases for fuel cell electric vehicles, are not paid by the user at the pump. 
• Price Uncertainty: Future hydrogen prices are also highly uncertain. In the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), we represent both current and future hydrogen fueling costs as ranges because of the large variability and uncertainty in the costs and use of alternative fuels and their supporting infrastructure. The ranges in fuel costs and resulting levelized cost of driving reflect a range of assumptions about production, delivery, and dispensing costs.
• Hydrogen Production Pathways: The ATB currently includes levelized cost of produced hydrogen estimates for hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming, which accounts for nearly all commercially produced hydrogen in the United States. The techno-economic parameters used in the ATB for steam methane reforming are summarized in the following table. Electricity and natural gas costs use the Annual Energy Outlook 2023 Reference case industrial rates for the West South Central region (EIA, 2025).

• Hydrogen Delivery Pathways: The ATB includes estimates for liquid hydrogen delivery via liquid hydrogen trucks, which has been the dominant technology in recent U.S. deployment trends for hydrogen vehicle demand. However, the optimal hydrogen delivery pathway will vary based on delivery distances and volumes in addition to production and end-use demand characteristics. For example, gaseous delivery via tube trailers may be more cost-effective at lower volumes but likely cannot deliver sufficient hydrogen to meet demand for medium- and heavy-duty trucks; at high volumes and distances, pipelines may provide cost benefits but are also capital-intensive.
• Hydrogen Fuel Prices: The fuel price for hydrogen includes the production cost and the cost of infrastructure for hydrogen delivery and dispensing. We do not add a tax to hydrogen because hydrogen is not currently taxed. Prices are presented for Current and Future prices and for High and Low LCOD cases. The Current costs represent modeled costs given current technology and current scale. These costs are comparable to prices reported from recent bus stations (Eudy and Post, 2021) but are lower than those reported from light-duty vehicle stations. Real-world prices vary widely because of market forces. Hydrogen prices and references are summarized in the following table.
  Hydrogen Price and Scenario Assumptions for Light-Duty and Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

• Hydrogen Pathway Emissions: Emissions for all hydrogen pathways are from the R&D GREET model (Wang et al., 2023). Hydrogen pathways are distinguished by their fuel pathway (energy source and hydrogen production method), assumed grid mix, and method of delivery and dispensing.
• Leakage and Boil-Off: Leakage and boil-off losses in the fuel supply chain are included because the hydrogen prices and emissions are in units per kilogram H2 delivered. However, leakage and boil-off at the dispensing station and on the vehicles and tanks are not included in the fuel economy or LCOD of hydrogen.

The data downloads include additional details of assumptions and calculations for each metric.

Definitions

For detailed definitions, see:

CO2e

NOx

SOx

PM

Fuel price

Scenarios

Well-to-tank emissions

References

The following references are specific to this page; for all references in this ATB, see References.