A sustainable hydrogen economy requires eff ective storage and transportation strategies, alongside advanced production

technologies. The traditional physical hydrogen storage often incurs signifi cant losses and additional equipment costs, while

material-based methods need additional supply of energy for dehydrogenation reactions. This study evaluates the exergy

and economic performance of both approaches within a defi ned supply chain. High-pressure hydrogen storage is relatively

simple but suff ers considerable exergy losses during compression. In contrast, the liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC)

system off ers advantages in both effi ciency and economic feasibility. By thermally integrating LOHC dehydrogenation with

fuel cell reactions, the overall system effi ciency increases by about 6%, achieving 2% higher exergy effi ciency compared to

high-pressure storage. Moreover, the LOHC materials share properties with conventional fuels, providing economic benefi ts

for long-distance transport and allowing the use of existing oil infrastructure. These fi ndings suggest that LOHC-based storage

is a viable option for large-scale hydrogen supply systems.