Natural Hydrogen Deposit Discoveries
Given I’ve been writing about climate, technology and market disruption for decades, I’m surprised when I get surprised!
A recent example was looking into the idea of 'gold hydrogen' - hydrogen that has naturally formed below the earth’s crust. Scientists have become increasingly interested over the last decade, with some arguing there may be trillions of tonnes of the gas beneath the crust. If they are correct, just a small percentage could be transformative for the energy transition. There’s even theories there may be renewable deposits, where hydrogen would be produced at a rate great enough to sustain its extraction.
Hydrogen is a promising fuel, but only if the hydrogen itself is produced from zero CO2 sources. As a result, we have assumed solar and wind energy would be needed to produce it. But with the already huge scale up challenge for renewable energy, diverting it to hydrogen production may not be the best approach.
As with any new idea, there’s many reasons this may not end up being commercially viable and it's still early days. However there has been a global ramp up in research efforts and investments given the huge value in carbon free energy.
The successful pursuit of ‘gold hydrogen’ would be a real game changer, making it one I’ll keep an eye on. I love still being surprised!
#Hydrogen #EnergyTransition #NetZero
Published by New Scientist | 31 January 2024