Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH(4)) has been studied (reactivity and kinetics) at high acid concentration (0.32 M). A mineral (hydrochloric acid, HCl) and an organic benign (acetic acid, CH(3)COOH) acid have been chosen. Our study has three distinct objectives, namely: (i) combining the simplicity of the storage of solid NaBH(4) with the simplicity of the aqueous solution of acid; (ii) showing CH(3)COOH can be as reactive as HCl in specific well-chosen operating conditions; and (iii) emphasizing the relative greenness of the CH(3)COOH-based process. All of these objectives have been fulfilled and show that CH(3)COOH is a benign relatively green acid catalyst of choice for catalyzing hydrogen generation from NaBH(4), the acid-water-NaBH(4) system being quite simple. (C) 2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.