EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPower generation systems based on fuel cells can play a central role in a hydrogen-based transportation infrastructure. In the US and abroad, major research and development initiatives toward establishing a hydrogen-based transportation infrastructure have been undertaken, encompassing key technological challenges in hydrogen production and delivery, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage. However, the principal obstacle to the implementation of a safe, low-pressure hydrogen fueling system for fuel-cell powered vehicles remains storage under conditions of nearambient temperature and moderate pressure. New concepts and ideas must, therefore, be elicited from the science and engineering community to overcome this major stumbling block through basic and applied research.The choices for viable hydrogen storage systems at the present time are limited to compressed gas storage tanks, cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tanks, chemical hydrogen storage (i.e., release of hydrogen from chemical compounds with subsequent on-or off-board regeneration), and hydrogen absorbed or adsorbed in a solid-state material (a.k.a. solid-state storage). More specifically, solid-state storage refers to the storage of hydrogen in materials such as metal hydrides, chemical hydrides, zeolites, and a host of emerging nano-engineered materials. While each of these enabling storage options has specific advantages and disadvantages, the solid-state systems may offer overriding benefits in terms of storage capacity, kinetics and, most importantly, safety.From a practical viewpoint, on-board hydrogen storage systems are needed that allow a vehicle driving range greater than 300 miles, requiring the vehicle to store a range of 9 4 kg of hydrogen. The potential that solid-state materials for hydrogen storage may one day meet these storage requirements, while also affording improved safety, for a hydrogen-based transportation infrastructure has led to significant interest and monetary investment among academic institutions, governmental agencies, and the commercial sector to accelerate development of materials and containment systems for the storage and delivery of hydrogen at low pressures and practical temperatures.In the formative years of this endeavor, the fervor among the research community to develop novel storage materials had, in many instances, the unfortunate consequence of making iv Executive Summary erroneous, if not wild, claims on the reported storage capacities achievable in such materials, to the extent that the potential viability of emerging materials was difficult to assess. This problem led to a widespread need to establish a capability to accurately and independently assess the storage behavior of a wide array of different classes of solid-state storage materials, employing qualified methods, thus allowing development efforts to focus on those materials that showed the most promise. However, standard guidelines, dedicated facilities, or certification programs specifically aimed at testing and assessing the performan...