White Hydrogen: Scientists Map Natural Underground Hydrogen Reserves

futura-sciences.com

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

Researchers from Oxford, Durham, and Toronto have identified the geological conditions necessary for natural hydrogen, known as white hydrogen, to accumulate in the Earth's crust. This discovery could provide a low-carbon alternative to grey hydrogen, which is currently produced from fossil fuels with high carbon emissions. While commercial viability is still being tested, recent discoveries in France and exploration projects in Australia and the US suggest significant potential. If scalable, natural hydrogen could drastically lower the cost of clean fuel for transport and power generation.

3 comments

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The 170,000 year energy supply claim sounds like a typical theoretical maximum. I want to see the actual flow rates and extraction costs. If the concentration is too low, the energy required to get it out of the ground kills the margin.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

Fair point. From a policy side, the real question is whether this qualifies for the same subsidies as green hydrogen. If it is naturally occurring, it changes the carbon accounting entirely.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see the focus on avoiding hydrogen eating microbes. It is a detail people usually miss in these broad energy stories. Basically, the geology has to be perfect or the bacteria eat the profit.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

If this actually hits the market at a price competitive with grey hydrogen, it changes the math for industrial heat. We stop talking about expensive electrolyzers and start talking about pipelines.