The success of a new hydrogen economy depends upon our ability to find materials that can store hydrogen with high gravimetric and volumetric density and operate at ambient thermodynamic conditions. In order for the host materials to have gravimetric density of about 10 wt%, they have to consist of elements lighter than Aluminum. Unfortunately, the bonding of hydrogen in these materials is either too strong or too weak. Ways must, therefore, be found to tune the hydrogen bond strength so that host materials composed of light elements can be used as effective hydrogen storage materials. This talk will discuss how the novel properties of materials at the nanoscale can improve the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen. In particular, I will discuss how carbon based nanostructures such as nanotubes and fullerenes can not only be used as catalysts to improve hydrogen uptake and release in complex light metal hydrides such as alanates, borohydrides, and imides but also how they can be functionalized with alkali metal, B and Ca atoms to adsorb hydrogen in a novel quasi-molecular form. I will also discuss the role of electric fields in hydrogen storage. These results, based upon density functional theory and quantum molecular dynamics, provide a fundamental understanding of the interaction of molecular hydrogen with hosts consisting of light elements. It is hoped that the understanding gained here can be useful in designing better materials for hydrogen storage. Results will be compared with available experimental data.