Hidden underground hydrogen reserves could power the entire Earth for centuries

Futurology A recent study has uncovered a groundbreaking discovery hidden beneath the Earth’s surface: a massive reservoir of hydrogen that has the potential to revolutionize the global energy landscape. Scientists have estimated that there are approximately 6.2 trillion tons of hydrogen stored in rocks and underground reservoirs, a quantity that surpasses known oil reserves by a staggering 261-fold.

The study, led by Geoffrey Ellis, a petroleum geochemist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has been published in the prestigious journal Science Advances. The research indicates that harnessing even a small fraction of this hydrogen could have significant implications for the future of energy worldwide.

“Just tapping into 2% of the hydrogen reservoirs identified in the study, which is equivalent to 124 billion tons of gas, could provide us with all the hydrogen needed to achieve carbon neutrality for a couple of centuries,” Ellis explained to LiveScience. This amount of hydrogen contains roughly double the energy stored in all known natural gas reserves on our planet.

Hydrogen, known as a clean energy carrier, has a wide range of applications, from powering vehicles to fueling industrial processes and generating electricity. With the increasing global efforts to combat climate change, hydrogen is expected to play a crucial role, potentially contributing up to 30% of the future energy supply in various sectors.

The findings of the study challenge long-standing beliefs about the behavior of hydrogen underground. Ellis noted, “The prevailing belief throughout my career was that hydrogen exists, but it tends to escape easily through small pores and cracks in rocks due to its small molecular size.” However, recent discoveries of significant hydrogen deposits in West Africa and an Albanian chromium mine have altered this perception.

To calculate the global hydrogen reserves, Ellis and Sarah Gelman, his colleague, developed a model that considered various factors, including underground hydrogen production rates, the amount likely trapped in reservoirs, and losses through processes like atmospheric leakage. The model revealed a broad range of potential hydrogen quantities, with 6.2 trillion tons being the most probable estimate.

Despite the promising figures, Ellis cautioned that a significant portion of this hydrogen may be inaccessible due to depth or offshore locations. Additionally, some reserves may be too small for economically viable extraction. Nonetheless, the sheer magnitude of the estimated reserves suggests that there could be more than enough hydrogen available for utilization, even with these limitations.

One of the primary advantages of natural hydrogen over synthetically produced “green” or “blue” hydrogen is its immediate availability. Ellis emphasized, “With natural hydrogen, you could simply open a valve and close it whenever you needed it, without the concerns of storage associated with green or blue hydrogen.”

However, the exact locations of these hydrogen reserves remain unknown, presenting a new challenge for researchers. Ellis and his team are currently working on identifying the geological criteria necessary for underground hydrogen accumulation, with results for the U.S. expected early next year.

While the potential of this discovery is immense, some experts advise caution. Professor Bill McGuire from University College London expressed concerns that extracting hydrogen on a large scale to significantly impact emissions would require a massive global initiative, which may not be feasible given the urgency of the climate crisis. McGuire also highlighted the need for extensive supporting infrastructure and questioned the necessity of exploiting another finite resource when renewable energy sources like wind and solar are available.