CNBC: Geological hydrogen – overlooked source gains momentum and sparks a gold rush

London, April 8 (CTK/CNBC) – Geological hydrogen, sometimes called white, gold or natural hydrogen, is gaseous hydrogen found in its natural form beneath the Earth’s surface. It is thought to form through high-temperature reactions between water and iron-rich minerals. Hydrogen has long been touted as one of many potential energy sources that could play an important role in the energy transition, but most of these sources are produced using fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, generating significant greenhouse gas emissions. Geological hydrogen, however, is not produced this way and could therefore play a major role in moving away from fossil fuels, its proponents say. The search for it is sparking a global “gold rush,” CNBC reports.

Consultancy Rystad Energy said that 40 companies were actively searching for geological hydrogen deposits at the end of last year, up from just ten in 2020. Exploration is under way in countries including the US, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Colombia and South Korea. Rystad calls the search for geological hydrogen a “white gold rush,” saying the excitement stems from hopes that this untapped resource could become a game changer in the transition to clean energy.

“I would say it’s something relatively old and, in a way, new,” said Ming Khoi Le, head of hydrogen research at Rystad Energy.

“The first project to discover hydrogen happened some time ago, but nothing really took off after that. People never seriously tried to explore for it.”

Geological hydrogen was first discovered in 1987 in a small village about 60 kilometres from Mali’s capital. Canadian company Hydroma was drilling unsuccessfully for water when it encountered a large quantity of an odourless gas that was found to be highly flammable. The well was soon capped and forgotten. Nearly two decades later, follow-up exploration at the site found reserves of almost pure gaseous hydrogen. Today, the resource is used to generate electricity for the Malian village of Bourakébougou.

Last year, scientists discovered what may be the world’s largest geological hydrogen deposit to date in France’s Lorraine region. The unexpected discovery further boosted interest in its potential as a clean energy source.

Geologist Geoffrey Ellis of the US Geological Survey (USGS) told CNBC that vast quantities of naturally occurring hydrogen may be hidden in underground reservoirs around the world. Based on current knowledge, he said, about five trillion tonnes of geological hydrogen are likely to lie beneath the Earth’s surface. Most of it is probably too deep or too far offshore to extract economically. Even so, just a few percent of this geological hydrogen could be enough to meet projected demand for 200 years.

“Natural hydrogen has generated a lot of excitement at the moment, but as for its potential, I think it’s still somewhat uncertain, because none of the projects has actually started producing or extracting hydrogen yet, apart from the one in Mali,” Le told CNBC.

He said many questions remain about natural hydrogen, but there seems to be some substance behind the hype. “If some of the figures cited by institutions such as the USGS about the potential volumes that could be extracted prove accurate, it could indeed play a fairly significant role,” he added.

But not everyone is convinced. Some are sceptical about the clean energy potential of natural hydrogen. “Sometimes we want to run before we can walk,” Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told CNBC. She said the first short-term priority for hydrogen should be finding a way to replace so-called grey hydrogen with green hydrogen.

Grey hydrogen is produced using natural gas, the most common method of hydrogen production. Its production generates high greenhouse gas emissions. Green hydrogen is made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity. However, its development is being severely hampered by high costs and a challenging economic environment. The Carbon Trust has estimated that less than one percent of current global hydrogen production is emissions-free.

The Hydrogen Science Coalition, a group of academics, scientists and engineers seeking to bring an evidence-based perspective to hydrogen’s role in the clean energy transition, recently said that geological hydrogen discoveries currently provide less energy worldwide each day than a single wind turbine. There are also environmental concerns associated with the extraction process, as well as transportation and distribution challenges, since geological hydrogen is unlikely to be found where it is most needed.