A new source of energy that could change the climate change situation! Scientists are so excited about a new source of energy coming from under the planet Earth’s surface. We are talking about geologic hydrogen, an underground power that won’t damage the environment and can be found in huge amounts. This is a great advance for scientific research and an opportunity to keep going forward in the future of sustainability, making the most of our natural resources.
We are more used to seeing many places using renewable energy. However, if geologic hydrogen is efficiently extracted, it means this clean energy could power an entire country for centuries! So, let’s learn more about this new source of energy!
A new source of energy capable of power an entire country
There’s a new clean energy in town and scientists are willing to start using it! Natural hydrogen, or geologic hydrogen, was found under the Earth’s surface in underground reservoirs and rock formations.
According to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), calculated there are up to 6,2 billion tonnes of hydrogen under the Earth’s crust. That’s not all, the most striking thing is that it’s only necessary 2% of this hydrogen to power an entire country for more than 200 years! Basically, we would be able to use an abundant and clean resource.
Importance of this hydrogen
Hydrogen is already used as a way to produce energy, but the way it’s produced is artificial which means a lot of energy use:
- Through electrolysis to separate water using electricity to produce green hydrogen.
- Steam methane reforming of natural gas to create blue hydrogen.
Contrary to these processes, geologic hydrogen is ready to be used. So, there’s no need for industrial processes, which makes it one of the most ecological energy options.
Much cleaner energy in the future
Everybody knows climate change is getting worse, that’s why these types of discoveries are so important to avoid this situation to go faster. Natural hydrogen has a crucial role in the transition to renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
It was not that long ago when it was believed this discovery was impossible, nobody supported the idea of hydrogen being underground since it is a very light molecule that could escape very easily through crevices. Now, thanks to recent discoveries made in Albania and West Africa, hydrogen traps were found.
Not that easy…
As we mentioned before, there is a huge amount of hydrogen, but the process of extracting it is not that simple… The main issue is that most deposits are located in places where it’s very difficult to have access, they tend to be very deep or underwater. This situation makes the extraction very expensive and difficult. There are other places with hydrogen, although the amount is so small that it’s not worth the investment.
The USGS team is working on identifying geologic signs to find where hydrogen traps around the United States, and 110 million kg of this resource have already been found, but it hasn’t been used yet.
Future of hydrogen
This underground hydrogen could make an impact on the future of Earth’s power. Even though developing a new infrastructure, advancing specific regulations and keeping investing are needed to achieve this future, some countries are already working on it.
For example, countries like Mali and Australia are already exploring this energy resource. So, if governments and companies got to overcome those issues, we would witness a natural resource capable of helping with one of the most worrying issues of the century: obtaining energy without damaging our planet Earth.