National labs team to research automotive hydrogen storage

Sandia National Laboratories announced Oct. 8 that it, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will cooperate on research for storage of hydrogen for automotives.

The Hydrogen Materials-Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC) will focus on solid-state hydrogen sources that could potentially lead to hydrogen-fuel based transportation becoming a possibility.

“By focusing on the underlying properties and phenomena that limit the performance of storage materials, we will generate much-needed understanding that will accelerate the development of all types of advanced storage materials, including sorbents, metal hydrides and liquid carriers,” Lawrence Livermore team lead Brandon Wood said.

According to the announcement, current storage capabilities for hydrogen fall short of cost and capacity targets set by the Department of Energy. According to Sandia chemist Mark Allendorf, the storage capabilities are the limiting factor in pursuing hydrogen fuel, which could be an efficient fuel source with little to no emissions.

“Storing hydrogen on board vehicles is a critical enabling technology for creating hydrogen-fueled transportation systems that can reduce oil dependency and mitigate the long-term effects of burning fossil fuels on climate change,” Allendorf said.

This project is funded by the Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.