Current Technology
Hydrogen storage is a significant challenge for the development and viability of hydrogen-powered vehicles. On-board hydrogen storage in the range of approximately 5–13 kg is required to enable a driving range of greater than 300 miles for the full platform of light-duty automotive vehicles using fuel cell power plants.
Hydrogen Storage Technologies
Current on-board hydrogen storage approaches involve compressed hydrogen gas tanks, liquid hydrogen tanks, metal hydrides, carbon-based materials/high-surface-area sorbents, and chemical hydrogen storage. Storage as a gas or liquid or storage in metal hydrides or high-surface-area sorbents constitutes "reversible" on-board hydrogen storage systems because hydrogen regeneration or refill can take place on-board the vehicle. For chemical hydrogen storage approaches (such as a chemical reaction on-board the vehicle to produce hydrogen), hydrogen regeneration is not possible on-board the vehicle; and thus, these spent materials must be removed from the vehicle and regenerated off-board.
Learn more about:
- Gaseous and Liquid Storage
- Materials-Based Storage
- Hydrogen Storage Challenges
- Status of Hydrogen Storage Technologies
System Requirements
On-board hydrogen storage system performance targets were developed through the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, a collaboration between DOE, the U.S. Council for Automotive Research, and the major energy companies. The targets developed are system-level targets and are customer-driven based on achieving similar performance and cost levels as current gasoline fuel storage systems. The storage system includes the tank, storage media, safety system, valves, regulators, piping, mounting brackets, insulation, added cooling capacity, and any other balance-of-plant components.
- Targets for on-board hydrogen storage systems (PDF 202 KB) Download Adobe Reader
In order to achieve system-level capacities of 2 kWh/kg system (6 wt.% hydrogen) and 1.5 kWh/L (0.045 kg hydrogen/L) in 2010, the gravimetric and volumetric capacities of the material alone must clearly be higher than the system-level targets.
Low-cost, energy efficient off-board storage of hydrogen will also be needed for stationary and portable applications and throughout the hydrogen delivery infrastructure. For example, storage is required at hydrogen production sites, hydrogen refueling stations, and stationary power generation sites. Temporary storage may also be required at terminals and/or intermediate storage locations.
Technical Publications
A variety of technical reports and other publications offer detailed information about hydrogen storage technologies.