Finding a safe and easy way to store hydrogen could disarm one of the current problems in the field of energy. Our group is willing to chararacterize and understand the so called steam-iron-process, using the couple iron/iron oxide to supply pure hydrogen from the reaction of iron and water vapour. The role of the additives zirconoum, manganese, molybdenum and chromium and their effects during the process will be determined by ex-situ and in-situ XAS experiments. A well thought-out selection of reference samples (covering all possible oxidation states) and the measurement of the samples at all involved egdes will result in fundamental information about the mechanism as well as in potential improvement possibilities of the material.