New research suggests that large deposits of natural hydrogen may exist all around the globe a result of the water-rock reactions deep within the Earth. This hydrogen percolates up through the crust and can accumulate in underground traps. The US Geological Survey has presented a model that suggests there may be enough natural hydrogen to meet global demand for thousands of years.
Dozens of startups are acquiring exploration rights for hydrogen. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists also formed its first natural hydrogen committee last year, and the USGS has started identifying potential hydrogen production areas in the United States. Mali, Australia and Spain may also become large producers of natural hydrogen.
The growing interest in natural hydrogen is due to the increasing demand for clean, carbon-free fuel. Governments are promoting hydrogen as a solution to combat global warming, and this push has intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Natural hydrogen is not only clean but also renewable. Unlike oil and gas, which take millions of years to form from buried and compressed organic deposits, natural hydrogen is continuously generated when underground water reacts with iron minerals such as olivine, at high temperatures and pressures.
One can find hydrogen by drilling deep into the ground. The oil and gas industry has dug millions of holes so far, but one reason why they have overlooked hydrogen is that it is scarce in the sedimentary rocks that typically contain oil and gas. Moreover, when well loggers did catalogue their borehole emanations, they rarely measured for hydrogen. This was because hydrogen was not considered an economically viable energy source.
However, scientists do not yet fully understand how natural hydrogen forms and migrates, and the most critical question is whether it can accumulate in a commercially viable manner. Further research is needed to determine the viability of natural hydrogen as a potential energy source.
For the time being, no one in the world will be able to produce hydrogen in a commercial way, yet.
Source: science.org