An innovative social life cycle decision-making model for assessing social sustainability : a case of green hydrogen production

Abstract

The energy sector is shifting to clean energy sources to achieve the goal of global carbon neutrality. Green hydrogen is considered a key player in decarbonizing various sectors due to its high energy density and environmentally friendly combustion. However, the social implications of green hydrogen production (GHP) remain underexplored. Particularly, there is a lack of studies on developing a comprehensive social life cycle decision support framework to assess its social sustainability performance. To address this gap, a novel decision-making framework was developed by integrating a social sustainability assessment criterion system taken from the Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database, a trapezoidal-fuzzy set (TrFS)-based Level-Based Weight Assessment (LBWA), and a TrFS-Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC) model for assessing S-LCA indicators and social sustainability performance of the GHP supply chain, focusing on a case study. The findings revealed that the “Fair salary” is the most critical social sustainability indicator for the GHP supply chain, with a weight of 0.1232. The social sustainability performance assessment of various regions using literature-based S-LCA data depicted that “Australia” outperformed other regions. The study highlighted the importance of addressing social sustainability issues for the GHP supply chain to ensure a just and inclusive energy transition. Through case studies and sensitivity analysis, the model demonstrates its applicability in guiding policymakers and industry stakeholders toward socially responsible GHP supply chain development. This research contributes to sustainable energy discourse by offering a robust tool for balancing social sustainability objectives in the hydrogen economy.