As the U. S. accelerates industrial decarbonization, understanding the system-wide implications of transitioning hard-to-abate sectors like cement manufacturing is essential. This study presents an integrated techno-economic and Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) assessment of on-site green hydrogen for the U. S. cement industry. We develop a novel plant-to-economy framework that translates optimized capital expenditures for PV, electrolyzer, and energy storage into national final demand vectors, allowing for a detailed assessment of supply chain propagation, value-added creation, and embodied emissions. By quantifying induced economic and environmental effects, the analysis reveals significant contributions to the national economy, generating over 825 million in output and 4500 jobs at 30% substitution. Results reveal that while the on-site system is economically productive and its up-front 'carbon debt' is repaid within months, it also triggers a significant re-materialization of the economy and presents non-linear cost challenges. The analysis highlights an abatement cost peaking at 461/tCO 2, a 100-fold increase in hydrogen storage requirements, and a structural shift of the environmental burden to upstream manufacturing and mineral extraction. Although applied to a representative cement plant, the proposed framework is designed to be transferable to other capital-intensive, hard-to-abate sectors where decarbonization planning requires integrated system-level insights. The findings offer policy-relevant guidance for aligning industrial decarbonization strategies with national economic resilience and long-term sustainability goals.
Sapkota et al. (Fri,) studied this question.