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Exploitation of fossil fuel sources in the power generation and transportation sector has been a major source of carbon dioxide emissions that contributes to global warming. Replacement of hydrocarbon-based fuel sources with cleaner fuels is imperative for environmental preservation at the global level. In this regard, hydrogen can be used as an effective non-carbonaceous fuel option as well as an energy carrier. Canada is currently one of the economically advanced countries in the world and aims at achieving a net-zero economy by 2050. However, fossil fuels are still largely utilized for both transportation and power generation purposes. Slightly less than a quarter of the total grid power in Canada is supplied through fossil fuel combustion including natural gas, coal, and petroleum. As a matter of fact, Canada, as one of the top ten global producers of hydrogen, exhibits a great potential of achieving the goal of sustainable development. Thus, this paper discusses the current status, challenges, and opportunities offered by the hydrogen sector and its development in the near- and long-term future in Canada. The potential methods of hydrogen production in Canada are described by categorizing them according to the energy and feedstock sources required for their realization. In addition, the status of hydrogen storage and distribution in Canada is also discussed. Various sectors consuming hydrogen as the end-users in Canada are categorized based on hydrogen use as a fuel, a heating source, and an industrial feedstock and are comprehensively discussed. Several challenges and the necessary line-of-actions to establish a hydrogen economy in Canada in the long-term future are also discussed, and a road map for accomplishing the net-zero economy by 2050 is further explained based on achieving certain near-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. Moreover, the job creation opportunities in Canada are discussed by considering numerous critical sectors. [Display omitted] • Overview of Canada's global position with regards to hydrogen production. • Overview of Canada's natural resources and infrastructural potential. • Comprehensive discussion on hydrogen production pathways and end-use in Canada. • Identification of several key challenges to achieve net-zero economy by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapidly increasing catastrophic environmental incidents and changes in global climate have compelled researchers to take proactive measures for climate change mitigation. Consequently, reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become one of the most significant global targets. The transportation sector has a massive carbon footprint accounting for 22% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. In this regard, road transport contributes the largest fraction of the total emissions within the transportation sector. Conversely, the railway which is the cleanest form of transportation contributes slightly more than 1% of the total emissions. Moreover, since most of the rail systems are operated by government or private companies, it is relatively convenient to implement policies and replace conventional technology with environmentally friendly ones. This could be achieved by taking certain measures from technical and operational viewpoints for conserving energy to lower the carbon intensity of all transport modalities. Hence, this review paper focuses on investigating the railway sector to encourage a modal shift to the least carbon-intensive option. This study provides a critical review of the past and present rail technologies in terms of the environmental, economic, social, and technical perspectives. Moreover, a comparative assessment of the various locomotive types has been performed. The results reveal that battery-hydrogen hybrid locomotives are the best choice to be considered as a future locomotive technology. Hydrogen locomotives have the potential to be a promising alternative to diesel railway locomotives. However, certain technical barriers need to be overcome to enhance the overall system's performance and reliability to further improve the viability of its deployment in the railway sector. [Display omitted] • A critical review of the various rail technologies is provided through different viewpoints. • The assessment constitutes environmental, economic, social, and technical perspectives. • A decision-support tool for comparison of four rail technologies is also developed. • Battery-hydrogen hybrid locomotive results in the highest score of 1.47. • Standalone hydrogen locomotive results in the second highest score of 1.38. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]