Abstract: Against the background of accelerated construction of the new energy system and increasingly prominent bottlenecks in renewable power consumption, green hydrogen-based energy has become an important approach to solving a series of problems. Different forms of hydrogen-based energy feature distinct transportation characteristics, leading to different technical standards, operating parameters and safety requirements for pipeline network systems. The problem of economically optimizing transportation pathways has not been systematically clarified, calling for targeted research urgently.Based on the theoretical framework of the new energy material-energy network, this study constructs a comprehensive transportation cost model covering resource-side conversion, cross-regional transportation and demand-side conversion from the full life cycle perspective of hydrogen-based energy transportation pathways. Taking Xinjiang (resource side) to the Yangtze River Delta (demand side) as the benchmark scenario, the cost levels of 18 different hydrogen-based energy transportation pathways are systematically calculated under four typical terminal demand scenarios: hydrogen, methane, methanol and ammonia. Sensitivity analysis of key parameters is conducted, and the cost composition of each link is quantitatively decomposed. The results show that for terminal hydrogen demand, direct hydrogen transportation pathways are the most economical (2.06–2.93 yuan/kg), significantly outperforming pathways using various hydrogen carriers. For terminal methanol, ammonia and methane demand, the comprehensive cost is minimized by converting energy forms at the resource side and directly transporting corresponding media. Retrofit and reuse of existing oil and gas pipelines can effectively reduce cross-regional transportation costs and improve the system’s ability to resist cost fluctuations. Accordingly, it is suggested to strengthen the planning of strategic hydrogen energy transportation corridors, promote technological upgrading of storage, transportation and conversion links through scientific and technological innovation, enhance the coordinated layout of the industrial chain, and deepen the whole-chain scenario development of “production-transportation-conversion-utilization”, so as to provide decision-making support for the planning of hydrogen energy transportation systems under the new energy material-energy network.