Utilizing life cycle assessment to support the environmentally friendly design of hydrogen generation from magnesium alloys: Offering a second life to waste

Hydrogen has emerged as a promising future energy source, but efficient, eco-friendly production and storage remain challenging. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is crucial for evaluating environmental impacts and guiding eco-design strategies. Among emerging techniques, magnesium hydrolysis for hydrogen production has gained attention. The presented LCA of a patented Mg-alloy with carbon and nickel additives identified nickel as the primary environmental impact contributor. To mitigate this, using ternary phases with minimal nickel content is proposed. Moreover, leveraging magnesium waste presents an opportunity to give alloys a second life, while enhancing the recycling of the resulting product, Mg(OH)2. Although LCA results show that magnesium hydrolysis has a lower environmental impact than steam reforming, further industrial-scale research is needed. This highlights the importance of ongoing investigation and refinement of magnesium hydrolysis as a green energy solution. •Recycling Mg(OH)2 via CRT method causes nearly 90% of environmental impacts.•Recycled aluminum and ternary Mg base compounds reduces environmental impacts.•Hydrolysis with magnesium is eco-friendly but less resource-efficient than steam reforming.