Applied hydrogen storage research and development: A perspective from the U.S. Department of Energy

Highlights: • Overview of U.S. DOE-supported hydrogen storage technology development efforts. • Physical and materials-based strategy for developing hydrogen storage systems. • Materials requirements for automotive storage systems. • Key R&D developments. - Abstract: To 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