'The holy grail’: Startup backed by a Nobel laureate vying for a breakthrough on hydrogen storage

A California-based startup backed by two pioneering scientists, one of whom is a Nobel laureate, believes it is on the cusp of a "quantum leap" in the hydrogen energy race.

H2MOF, which was co-founded in 2021, is working to develop a solution for hydrogen storage by deploying the latest advancements in the field of molecularly engineered materials.

It says a breakthrough in what it regards as the greatest challenge facing the hydrogen economy is just a matter of time.

"The production of hydrogen, as far as I'm aware, is a settled problem," professor Fraser Stoddart, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016 and one of the co-founders of H2MOF, told CNBC via videoconference.

"There are ample efficient ways of producing hydrogen. The big challenge that remains is to store it in a manner that stores a lot of it at low pressures and ambient temperatures," Stoddart said. "I am confident that one way or another we will get there of course."

Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, and has long been billed as one of many potential energy sources that could play a pivotal role in the green transition.

Transforming hydrogen into fuel requires energy. If produced using renewable energy, hydrogen's only climate footprint is water, making it an attractive option for applications such as transportation and electricity generation.

Currently, most hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, a process that generates planet-warming emissions.

Professor Omar Yaghi, founder of reticular chemistry field of science and co-founder of H2MOF, said the company is seeking to compress hydrogen into a small volume without having to use high pressure or low temperatures.

"That's really the holy grail