Assessment of renewable-based clean hydrogen production for transportation in Iran: a multi-city study

Iran is gradually shifting toward clean energy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and cut CO₂ emissions. Given the country's large renewable potential, hydrogen produced from these resources is a zero-emission energy carrier and a promising fuel option for vehicles. This study evaluates the potential of six cities with different climatic conditions to produce up to 120 kg/day of hydrogen from photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, using HOMER Pro for the analysis. The levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is lowest in Kerman and Birjand, at $6.09/kg and $6.10/kg, and highest in Tabriz, at $10.70/kg. Replacing gasoline with this hydrogen in all six cities would avoid a total of about 9183 t of CO₂ over the 25-year project lifetime. These results show that hybrid renewable systems are technically and economically suitable for clean hydrogen production and can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel dependence in the transport sector.