Recently new ways to use renewable sources with sufficient efficiency attract most of the attentions for employment in industrial applications. Most of the researches have been emphasized to discover and examine new materials for hydrogen storage. Therefore, N-ethylcarbazole (NEC) has been examined as a promising liquid organic hydrogen carrier for hydrogen storage. Theoretical calculations were performed using the density functional theory to find the rate determining step (rds) and activation parameters at the standard and experimental conditions. Additionally, solvent effects on this hydrogenation reaction was examined by conductor like polarizable continuum model (CPCM) method in the presence of decalin as industrial solvent. All calculations confirmed that H-10-NEC + H-2 -> H-12-NEC is the rds. Natural bond orbital analysis confirmed charge transfer for C center dot center dot center dot H bonds. Quantum theory of atoms in molecules procedure showed that hydrogen storage can be considered as chemisorption by a covalent nature. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.