Many so-called sustainable technologies rely on inherently unsustainable materials. These include minerals that are mined from deep underground, or petrochemicals derived directly from fossil fuels. My goal is to explore sustainable alternative materials derived from biomass. I spent 16 years in Japan working on new materials for hydrogen energy applications, first at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and then at Kyushu University. There I was Professor in the Next-Generation Fuel Cell Research Center (NEXT-FC) where my group worked with industry players such as Mitsubishi Fuso, Toyota, Hitachi and ENEOS, as well as many distinguished research groups around the globe. In 2019 I received the prestigious NICE-STEP Researcher Award from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for “special contribution to science and technology” and for “bringing energy to Japan”. I have published over 100 papers, several books and various book chapters on the development of sustainable nanomaterials for a wide range of energy-related applications, especially in electrochemistry and hydrogen storage. Due to the burgeoning hydrogen landscape in the UK, Stephen returned home in 2022 as Chancellor’s Fellow in Sustainable Energy at the University of Strathclyde. He remains as Visiting Professor at Kyushu University, is also Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, and an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia.