This brief article describes the content of this issue of MRS Bulletin on Hydrogen Storage. Hydrogen is a powerful, clean, synthetic fuel with the inconvenient property of being an ideal gas under ambient conditions. In order to use hydrogen efficiently as a fuel, compacting it for mobile storage is a key issue. As an introduction to the following seven contributions on different storage techniques and their potential, we start with a description of the technical and socioeconomic aspects of the mobility and transport issues involved and present an overview of volumetric and gravimetric storage densities for hydrogen.

This survey focuses on the use of liquid hydrogen as an automotive fuel in comparison with the use of compressed gaseous hydrogen. The energy penalties associated with liquefaction versus gas compression are compared, followed by an examination of the weight of hydrogen relative to carrier weight for the two alternative approaches. The optimum form and design of LH2 tanks are discussed, followed by the important topic of how to achieve quick and easy transfer of LH2 from a storage tank to a vehicle.