There are many technical and economic hurdles remaining before hydrogen becomes economical to use and replaces conventional sources of energy.
The overall challenge to hydrogen production is cost reduction. To succeed in the transportation commercial marketplace, hydrogen must be cost-competitive with conventional fuels and technologies on a per-mile basis.[1]
Key challenges to hydrogen delivery include reducing delivery cost, increasing energy efficiency, maintaining hydrogen purity, and minimizing hydrogen leakage. Further research is needed to analyze the trade-offs between hydrogen production and delivery.
There currently exists a gap with respect to efficient and proper storage of hydrogen. Most research in this area is centered on the storage of hydrogen in a lightewight, compact manner suitable to mobile applications. Current research for storage of hydrogen has resulted in hydrides (both simple and complex), carbon nanotubes, and metal organic frameworks. These are in various stages of commercialization and research. Many consider on-board hydrogen storage to be the greatest technical challenge to widespread commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.[2]
Another technology gap researchers are working to close is to determine among the wide variety of production methods, which method is most suitable to mass production. Some methods are more efficient and greener than others, while some are much cheaper and accessible. The challenge lies in finding the best balance between the economic utility and energy utility of the method. Alternate technologies such as electrolysis, solar production, biomass and algal production of hydrogen are in various stages of commercialization and research.
Today, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are currently in the pre-production stage of development, but the infrastructure necessary to refuel them does not currently exist.[3] Building a national hydrogen delivery infrastructure is a big challenge. It will take time to develop and will likely include combinations of various technologies.[4]
