A number of hydrides are considered good candidates for hydrogen storage material for various applications in particular for automobile use. A metal hydride is synthesized through the reaction of a metal with hydrogen which is formed on industrial scale either by the electrolysis of water, by heating coke with steam in the water gas shift reaction or using hydrocarbons with steam. This study demonstrates that under certain conditions, it is possible to synthesize a metal hydride by the reaction of a metal with water or with a hydroxide. Such a synthesis route dispenses with the need for separately forming hydrogen by an expensive process and then to synthesize a hydride by metal-hydrogen reaction. If adopted in many of the hydrogen storage projects which plan to use a hydride for producing hydrogen through a chemical reaction or by a reversible dissociation for automobile use, this method could make a significant difference in making them cost-effective. (C) 2006 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.