Massive Natural Hydrogen Reserves Could Fuel Earth for Years
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A new study reveals Earth's crust has produced enough hydrogen to supply global energy demands for 170,000 years, and researchers have now outlined the geological recipe needed to locate hidden reserves.
Recent findings suggest that vast underground reservoirs of natural hydrogen exist across numerous global regions, including at least 30 US states.
Until now, scientists had a fragmented understanding of how such accumulations form or where they might be located.
“The game of the moment is to find where it has been released, accumulated and preserved,” said Chris Ballentine, professor and chair of geochemistry at the University of Oxford, in an email to Live Science.
Ballentine is the lead author of a new review published May 13 in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment.
The study concludes that Earth's crust has generated enough hydrogen over the last billion years to meet current global energy demand for 170,000 years.
However, it remains unclear how much of that hydrogen can be practically and economically extracted.
The paper offers an "ingredient" list of geological factors that contribute to hydrogen production and accumulation, providing a foundation for more targeted exploration.
Exploration companies such as Koloma, Hy-Terra, and Snowfox are already investigating these conditions.
Natural hydrogen reservoirs require three components: a hydrogen source, reservoir rocks, and geological seals to trap the gas.
Ballentine explained that at least a dozen natural processes can produce hydrogen, including simple chemical reactions that split water molecules.
"One place that is attracting a lot of interest is in Kansas, where a feature called the midcontinental rift, formed about 1 billion years ago, created a huge accumulation of rocks (mainly basalts) that can react with water to form hydrogen," he said.
Tectonic stress and high heat flow may help release hydrogen deep within Earth's crust, allowing it to rise toward the surface and accumulate.
The study highlights several promising geological settings, including ophiolite complexes, large igneous provinces, and Archaean greenstone belts.
In 2024, researchers discovered a major hydrogen reservoir in an ophiolite complex in Albania.
These insights serve as “first principles” for hydrogen exploration, said co-author Jon Gluyas of Durham University.
Barbara Sherwood Lollar, a professor at the University of Toronto, noted that underground microbes can consume hydrogen, making microbial activity an important factor in site selection.
Hydrogen is essential for producing chemicals like methanol and ammonia and has potential as a clean energy source.
Currently, most hydrogen is derived from hydrocarbons, which results in significant carbon emissions.
Natural hydrogen has a much lower carbon footprint since it occurs without industrial processing.
“Earth’s crust produces plenty of hydrogen,” Ballentine said. “It is now a question of following the ingredient list to find it.”
