Formate salts as chemical carriers in hydrogen storage and transportation

Hydrogen is an important raw material and an attractive fuel for the near future. The availability and use of large amounts of hydrogen requires the development of suitable means of handling, storage and transportation. Recent research carried out in our laboratory in the field of hydrogenation of organic compounds by formate salts [Bar and Sasson, Tet. Lett. 22, 1709 (1981); Zoran et al., J. Mol. Catal. 26, 321 (1984); Bar et al., J. Mol. Catal. 26, 327 (1984); Bar et al., J. Mol. Catal. 33, 161 (1985)] led to the idea of using formate salts as chemical hydrogen carriers. A brief review on the use of hydrogen as a storable energy source and problems associated with its storage is followed by the presentation of the cyclic process of storing hydrogen by means of formate salts.