The practically of hydrogen fuel cells as a power source for consumer automobiles has been restricted for some while, both due to the amount of space that the cells themselves require and the potentially explosive nature of the fuel source itself. Enter C.en, a Swiss start up headed by Israeli entrepreneur Moshe Stern which is utilizing cold-war era Russian hydrogen storage technologies to increase capacity while decreasing size.

The heart of the breakthrough involves bundling small high-strength glass tubes, known as capillaries, together in array arrangements, giving them increased rigidity. “Glass has proven to have three times the storage capacity at only a third of the weight of steel containers that are now commonly used for hydrogen storage, and it’s far cheaper,” said Dan Elizer, C.en’s chief scientist.

The technology has been tested and approved by a major German testing agency and has exceeded the DOE’s 2010 and 2015 gravimetric weight storage targets. C.en’s technology could have far reaching implications for the automobile and consumer electronic industries in the near future. We will be watching and waiting to hear more.