Researchers at the University of Oxford, Durham University and the University of Toronto have detailed the geological ingredients required to find clean sources of natural hydrogen beneath our feet.
Researchers at the University of Oxford, Durham University and the University of Toronto have detailed the geological ingredients required to find clean sources of natural hydrogen beneath our feet. The work details the requirements for natural hydrogen, produced by the Earth itself over geological time, to accumulate in the crust, and identifies that the geological environments with those ingredients are widespread globally. These findings, published today in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, offer a solution to the challenge of hydrogen supply, and will help industry to locate and extract natural hydrogen to meet global demands, eliminating the use of hydrocarbons for this purpose.
In the modern world, a reliable supply of hydrogen gas is vital for the function of society. Fertiliser produced from hydrogen contributes to the food supply of half the global population, and hydrogen is also a key energy component in many roadmaps to a carbon neutral future, essential if we are to prevent the worst predictions of climate change.
Today, hydrogen is produced from hydrocarbons, with waste gases contributing to 2.4% of global CO2 emissions. Demand for hydrogen is set to increase from 90 million tonnes in 2022 to 540 million tonnes in 2050, but it is vital that this hydrogen is not CO2 emitting. Production followed by the burial of waste CO2 (‘carbon sequestration’) or from renewable energy resources (wind or solar) are both future sources of hydrogen, but are not yet commercially competitive.
Read more at University of Oxford
Image: Natural hydrogen naturally released at the Earth's surface from groundwater in rocks of the Canadian Shield. (Photo Credit: Stable Isotope Lab University of Toronto)
