Hydrogen is an essential part of modern society. It’s used to make fertilizers that feed half of the world’s population and is a key ingredient in plans to achieve a carbon-neutral future.
But currently, most of the hydrogen we use is made from hydrocarbons, a process that releases harmful CO2 emissions.
In fact, it’s responsible for 2.4% of the world’s total carbon dioxide output.
With demand for hydrogen expected to jump from 90 million metric tons in 2022 to 540 million metric tons by 2050, finding a cleaner source is crucial.
Renewable energy, like wind and solar, can produce hydrogen without carbon emissions, but these methods are not yet cost-competitive.
Another option is capturing and burying the carbon emissions from traditional hydrogen production, but that too is costly and not widely used. A new study led by the University of Oxford, in collaboration with Durham University and the University of Toronto, may have uncovered a better solution.
According to their research, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Earth’s continental crust has been naturally producing hydrogen for over a billion years—enough to meet human energy needs for at least 170,000 years.
Much of this hydrogen has been lost or remains trapped deep underground, but a significant amount is still accessible.
Until now, the lack of historical data on hydrogen sampling and measurement has made it difficult for scientists to understand where hydrogen is stored and in what quantities.
This new research aims to change that. By developing an “exploration recipe,” the researchers believe it’s possible to locate natural hydrogen reserves that could be harvested and used as a clean energy source.
Professor Jon Gluyas from Durham University compares the new exploration strategy to the one used for helium. He believes a similar approach can be applied to hydrogen, mapping out the rock types, underground movements, and conditions needed for hydrogen to accumulate.
One important aspect of this strategy is understanding how hydrogen can be preserved underground. Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar from the University of Toronto explains that underground microbes love to consume hydrogen, so avoiding areas where these microbes thrive is key to finding economic reserves.
The researchers also highlight the importance of geological settings. Unlike hydrogen from Earth’s mantle, which has been largely dismissed as a viable source, the team found that natural hydrogen accumulations are spread across many types of rock formations and can be surprisingly young—just millions of years old—or incredibly ancient, dating back hundreds of millions of years.
Lead author Professor Chris Ballentine from the University of Oxford describes the search for hydrogen like baking a soufflé: “Get any one of the ingredients, amounts, timing, or temperature wrong, and you will be disappointed,” he says. But if done right, the team believes it could unlock a competitive, low-carbon hydrogen source that would revolutionize clean energy production.
To make this vision a reality, the researchers have formed Snowfox Discovery Ltd., a company dedicated to finding significant natural hydrogen reserves. Their goal is to tap into the Earth’s hidden hydrogen and help power the world with a cleaner, more sustainable energy source.
