Hydrogen storage is widely recognized as a critical enabling technology for the successful commercialization and market acceptance of hydrogen powered vehicles. Storing sufficient hydrogen on-board a wide range of vehicle platforms, while meeting all consumer requirements (driving range, cost, safety, performance, etc.), without compromising passenger or cargo space, is a tremendous technical challenge. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with automotive industry partners, established specific technical targets for on-board hydrogen storage systems to focus R&D and to stimulate research on hydrogen storage. In order to achieve these long-term targets, DOE launched a ''Grand Challenge'' to the scientific community in 2003. Based on a competitively selected portfolio, DOE established a ''National Hydrogen Storage Project'' in the U.S. for R&D in the areas of advanced metal hydrides, chemical hydrogen storage, carbon-based and high surface area sorbent materials, as well as new materials and concepts. The current status of vehicular hydrogen storage is reviewed and research associated with the National Hydrogen Storage Project is discussed. Future DOE plans through the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) are also presented.

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a b s t r a c tTo enable the wide-spread commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell technologies, the U.S. Department of Energy, through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Fuel Cell Technology Office, maintains a comprehensive portfolio of R&D activities to develop advanced hydrogen storage technologies. The primary focus of the Hydrogen Storage Program is development of technologies to meet the challenging onboard storage requirements for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to meet vehicle performance that consumers have come to expect. Performance targets have also been established for materials handling equipment (e.g., forklifts) and low-power, portable fuel cell applications. With the imminent release of commercial FCEVs by automobile manufacturers in regional markets, a dual strategy is being pursued to (a) lower the cost and improve performance of high-pressure compressed hydrogen storage systems while (b) continuing efforts on advanced storage technologies that have potential to surpass the performance of ambient compressed hydrogen storage.

Hydrogen is under consideration by several countries for its potential as an energy carrier for transportation applications. In order to compete with vehicles in use today, hydrogen-powered vehicles will require a driving range of greater than 300-miles in order to meet customer needs and expectations. For the overall vehicular light-duty fleet, this dictates that a range of 5 to 13 kg of hydrogen be stored on-board (assuming a fuel cell power plant) within stringent system weight, volume, and cost constraints. Vehicular hydrogen storage thus constitutes a major scientific and technological challenge. To meet this challenge, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a “National Hydrogen Storage Project” with roughly 40 universities, 15 companies and 10 federal laboratories, actively engaged in hydrogen storage research. Centers of Excellence in metal hydrides, chemical hydrides, and carbon-based materials have been established, as well as independent university and industry projects in the areas of new concepts/materials, hydrogen storage testing, and storage system analysis. Recent technical progress in each of these areas is discussed.

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