Web-based resources enhance hydrogen safety knowledge

The U.S. Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Program addresses key technical challenges and institutional barriers facing the development and deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies with the goal of decreasing dependence on oil, reducing carbon emissions and enabling reliable power generation. The Safety, Codes & Standards program area seeks to develop and implement the practices and procedures that will ensure safety in the operation, handling and use of hydrogen and hydrogen systems for all projects and utilize these practices and lessons learned to promote the safe use of hydrogen. Enabling the development of codes and standards for the safe use of hydrogen in energy applications and facilitating the development and harmonization of international codes and standards are integral to this work. Web-based resources play a key role in reaching, educating and informing stakeholders whose contributions will help enable the deployment of new hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. This paper surveys eight web-based tools, each targeted to a specific stakeholder audience, that are integral resources for information on hydrogen-related safety, codes and standards work in the Fuel Cell Technologies Program.•Hydrogen Incident Reporting and Lessons Learned (http://h2incidents.org)•Hydrogen Safety Best Practices (http://h2bestpractices.org)•Hydrogen Safety Bibliographic Database (http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/biblio_database.html)•Introduction to Hydrogen Safety for First Responders (http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/firstresponders.html)•Introduction to Hydrogen for Code Officials (http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/training/code_official_training/)•Permitting Hydrogen Facilities (http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/permitting/)•Safety Training for Researchers (http://www.h2labsafety.org/)•Technical Reference for Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials (http://www.sandia.gov/matlsTechRef/) The development and use of each safety knowledge tool is described. ► Web-based resources play a key role in reaching, educating and informing stakeholders. ► Eight web-based tools are integral resources for information on hydrogen-related safety, codes and standards. ► These tools complement other, more traditional means of knowledge dissemination. ► Databases and websites require a concerted effort beyond general maintenance to remain current, relevant and valuable.