Importance of Turning to Renewable Energy Resources with Hydrogen as a Promising Candidate and On-Board Storage a Critical Barrier

The majority of the world energy consumption is derived from fossil fuels. Furthermore, the United States (US) consumption of petroleum vastly exceeds its production, with the majority of petroleum being consumed in the transportation sector. The increasing dependency on foreign fuel resources in conjunction with the severe environmental impacts of a petroleum-based society dictates that alternative renewable energy resources be developed. The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences are currently promoting a vehicular hydrogen-based energy economy. However, none of the current on-board storage technologies are suitable for practical and safe deployment. Significant scientific advancement is therefore still required if a viable on-board storage technology is to be developed. A detailed discussion of the benefits of transitioning to a hydrogen-powered automotive fleet as well as the tremendous technical hurdles faced for the development of an on-board hydrogen storage system are provided here. A novel class of theoretically predicted nanostructured materials that could revolutionize hydrogen storage materials is also presented.