Hydrogen Value Chain Integration in Energy Systems: Technical, Economic, Safety and Policy Dimensions

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen has shifted from academic speculation to practical deployment, yet fundamental uncertainties persist across its value chain. Production technology remains energy-intensive; green hydrogen from renewable-powered electrolysis shows promise but lacks economic competitiveness in most applications without policy support. The technical landscape is fragmented; alkaline, PEM and solid oxide pathways each present distinct tradeoffs. Storage and distribution infrastructure barely exists; building demands confidence about hydrogen demand that markets have not yet established. Safety considerations are non-negotiable; hydrogen's combustion characteristics, embrittlement risks and detection challenges require rigorous engineering validation and continuously evolving regulation. The economic question cuts deepest: which applications genuinely favour hydrogen over battery electricity or synthetic fuels? Heavy industry, including steel, ammonia, chemicals and long-distance transport, emerges as the most credible domain. Yet competitiveness depends entirely on technological breakthroughs, policy mechanisms and economies of scale that remain speculative. Hydrogen cannot be treated as an isolated technology but must be understood within broader energy systems, policy frameworks and market dynamics that will determine its trajectory.

This Special Issue addresses the full spectrum of hydrogen's role in energy systems transformation. Rigorous technical research on production, storage, distribution and end-use applications form the foundation. Economic analyses clarifying competitive positioning under realistic cost scenarios are essential. Safety engineering, spanning from computational fluid dynamics validation to regulatory development, is non-negotiable. The policy examination of support mechanisms, carbon accounting and international coordination shapes real-world deployment. Environmental assessment beyond carbon accounting, supply chain analysis addressing critical mineral dependencies and systems-level integration studies examining hydrogen's interaction with electricity grids and sectoral coupling provide necessary breadth. Applications in hard-to-abate sectors deserve particular focus. Regional variation requires context-specific analysis, as the hydrogen pathways viable in northern Europe differ fundamentally from those appropriate in Australia or the Middle East. The hydrogen economy emerges not from isolated breakthroughs but from a complex interplay across the entire value chain. Research illuminating these interconnections, tensions and sector-specific possibilities drives genuine understanding. Although this Special Issue covers interdisciplinary research, the core focus of all submissions must remain within the field of energy.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Hydrogen production, storage and distribution systems: Electrolysis technologies; cost reduction; hydrogen storage solutions and pipeline and transport infrastructure.
• Hydrogen Infrastructure Safety and Technical Codes: Computational fluid dynamics; engineering hazard analysis; technical standards and hydrogen refuelling .
• Hard-to-Abate Industrial Applications: Steel production via direct reduction; ammonia synthesis; chemical manufacturing; long-distance transport and thermodynamic efficiency and techno-economic optimization.
• Hydrogen Economy and Market Development: Cost trajectories; competitiveness with alternatives and market design.
• Energy Systems Integration: Hydrogen interaction with electricity grids; sector coupling mechanisms; demand-side management; renewable electricity requirements; temporal and spatial optimization and grid stability considerations.
• Technical Standards and Regulatory Frameworks: International codes and standards (ISO, IEC) for the entire hydrogen infrastructure and harmonization of technical requirements across regions.
• Environmental Analysis: Greenhouse gas emissions modelling; lifecycle assessment; water consumption and comparative footprints across pathways.
• Regional Hydrogen Pathways: Geographic variation in production opportunities and constraints; regional supply chain development; context-specific deployment strategies; international hydrogen trade and export potential and case studies across different regions.
• Technology Readiness: Electrolyzer scalability and industrial technology readiness.

Although this Special Issue welcomes interdisciplinary research spanning engineering, economics, policy and environmental science, the core focus of every submitted manuscript must remain within the field of energy systems—specifically, the production, conversion, storage, distribution, or end-use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Manuscripts addressing safety, standards, supply chains, or policy will only be considered if they explicitly connect to energy system performance, efficiency, economics, or integration.

Dr. Antonio Sgaramella
Dr. Daniele Melideo
Dr. Lorenzo Mario Pastore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• hydrogen production
• green hydrogen
• electrolysis
• hydrogen refuelling stations
• hydrogen infrastructures
• hydrogen safety
• computational fluid dynamics
• hard-to-abate sectors
• steel production
• ammonia synthesis
• hydrogen economy
• cost competitiveness
• total cost of ownership
• fuel cell
• fuel cell electric trucks
• policy frameworks
• energy systems integration
• sector coupling
• lifecycle assessment
• supply chain
• regulatory standards
• international hydrogen trade