Hydrogen Economy
Primary Research Goals:
Leaders: Noami Boness Tom Jaramillo Xiaoling Zheng
- Liquid carriers for transportation
- Generation from natural gas
- Storage and distribution
- Decarbonization of natural gas
Hydrogen Economy Focus Area
We are in the midst of a global energy transformation driven by climate concerns, disruptive advances in renewable energy, the enabling power of data and the digital revolution, and the merging of traditional industrial sectors. Future energy systems will have many requirements: Low carbon, resilient and reliable, globally transportable, affordable, safe, and suitable for stationary and mobile applications from light duty to heavy duty. Hydrogen and electricity, renewably generated, as well as fossil fuels with CO2 capture are attractive contenders. CO2 capture for mobile applications is difficult, leaving hydrogen and electricity as the current main contenders for sustainable transportation fuels. Hydrogen is also being considered for long duration energy storage and as an energy carrier for regions of the world with an abundance of renewably generated electricity Against this backdrop, Stanford is conducting research on hydrogen as a future fuel to understand its ability to meet current and future energy requirements, identify its gaps, and compare its supply and value chain with other fuels. Active research areas include Hydrogen generation, storage, transportation, distribution and utilization applications. Learn more about Energy Modeling Forum
Faculty & Researchers



Students
Research Groups
Xia Lab

The group is interested in the design, synthesis, and manipulation of novel organic and polymeric materials. They use a combination of organic and polymer chemistry, catalysis, and advanced characterizations to create, control, and investigate unusual (macro) molecular structures and organic materials with tailored conformations nanostructures, properties, and functions, which advance our fundamental understanding of emerging topics in chemistry and polymer science as well as target important technological applications.
Related Publications
- Tonelli, D., Rosa, L. ., Gabrielli, P., & al, et. (2024). Cost-competitive decentralized ammonia fertilizer production can increase food security. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00979-y
- Chen, C., Oh, J., Yang, A. ., Zhou, C., Liccardo, G., Sapru, S., & Cargnello, M. (2024). Understanding the effects of manganese and zinc promoters on ferrite catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to hydrocarbons through colloidal nanocrystals . Surface Science, 741, 122424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2023.122424
- Okoroafor, E., Bracci, J., Boness, N., Saltzer, S., & al, et. (2024). A Methodology for Fueling Mobility Markets with Hydrogen from Natural Gas plus Carbon Capture and Sequestration. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 133, 104095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2024.104095
- Bracci, J., Sherwin, E., Boness, N., & Brandt, A. (2023). Leveling the Playing Field: A Cost Comparison of Various Hourly- Reliable, Net-Zero Hydrogen Production Pathways. Nature Communications, 14, 7391. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2488892/v1
- Rojas, J., Zhai, S., Sun, E., Haribal, V., Marin-Quiros, S., Sarkar, A., Gupta, R., Cargnello, M., Chueh, W., & Majumdar, A. (2023). Technoeconomics and carbon footprint of hydrogen production . International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 49(28), 10706-10723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.12.119
- Zoback, M., & Smit, D. (2023). Meeting the challenges of large-scale carbon storage and hydrogen production. PNAS, 120(11). https://doi.org/doi: 10.1073/pnas.2202397120
- Boness PhD, N. (2021). The Interplay of Hydrogen and Natural Gas. Energy Dialogues.
- M., B. W. L. M. M. L.-K. H. J. R. (2019). Aqueous Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide into Methanol with Cobalt Phthalocyanine.
- F., K. H. C. M. D. V. H. A. J. (2019). A non-precious metal hydrogen catalyst in a commercial polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser.
- F., G. K. S. F. K. R. C. J. (2019). Transition Metal Arsenide Catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.
- F., B. Y. Y. S. L. F. B. D. J. (2019). Interfacial engineering of gallium indium phosphide photoelectrodes for hydrogen evolution with precious metal and non-precious metal based catalysts.
- F., A. C. Y. S. N. M. E.-R. B. S. R. S. B. M. K. V. C. B. (2019). A rigorous electrochemical ammonia synthesis protocol with quantitative isotope measurements..
- H., D. L. H. H. J. J. S. (2019). What would it take for renewably powered electrosynthesis to displace petrochemical processes?.
- Powell, J., Boness, N., Seamon, D. B., Chen, J., & Bracci, J. (2019). Workshop Brief: Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Transportation. Stanford Energy.
- T., N. M. S. B. B. W. P. A. E.-R. C. Y. B. C. K. V. C. J. (2019). A Versatile Method for Ammonia Detection in a Range of Relevant Electrolytes via Direct Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Techniques.
- F., B. L. D. N. H. N. H. J. (2019). Electro-Oxidation of Methane on Platinum under Ambient Conditions.
- T., C. R. T. W. H. J. C. B. (2019). Influence of Atomic Surface Structure on the Activity of Ag for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to CO .
- M., S. S. R. S. N. M. A. C. Y. C. J. N. C. (2019). Proton control in electrochemical ammonia synthesis.
- H., Y. T. T. A.-P. Z. L. (2019). Enhancing Electrocatalytic Water Splitting by Strain Engineering.
Hydrogen Economy Focus Area Annual Report
Stanford Natural Gas Initiative seed funded projects require annual submissions of brief technical progress reports and interim report summaries for active projects. Closed projects require a technical report and final report summary one year after the award close date.
Read the most recent interim report (Coming soon)