Natural hydrogen

In Adelaide, Australia in the 1930s, oil well drillers reported finding "vast amounts of high-purity hydrogen." At the time it was viewed as a useless byproduct of the oil drilling industry, and no efforts were made to capture it.[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/business/energy-environment/clean-energy-hydrogen.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk0.9imV.6IqQc0Ic4zYr&smid=url-share It Could Be a Vast Source of Clean Energy, Buried Deep Underground] New York Times. By Liz Alderman. Dec. 4, 2023. Accessed Dec. 3, 2024.

In 1987 in the village of Bourakebougou in Mali, Africa, a worker attempted to light his cigarette next to a certain water well, and the well unexpectedly caught fire. A local entrepreneur soon became interested in the possible economic value of this "burning well" and determined that the flames were produced by natural hydrogen seeping out of the well. A local petroleum company was soon hired to harvest and sell the hydrogen, and as of 2024, the villagers of Bourakébougou village continue to pay for their hydrogen. {{asof|2023}} the Malian hydrogen well remains as the world’s first and only economically successful hydrogen well.{{cite journal |last1=Maiga |first1=Omar |last2=Deville |first2=Eric |last3=Laval |first3=Jérome |last4=Prinzhofer |first4=Alain |last5=Diallo |first5=Aliou Boubacar |title=Characterization of the spontaneously recharging natural hydrogen reservoirs of Bourakebougou in Mali |journal=Scientific Reports |date=22 July 2023 |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=11876 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-38977-y|pmid=37481587 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1311876M }}

During the 2020s, interest in natural hydrogen has increased and investments have been made to develop natural hydrogen wells in the US, France and Australia. In France, one petroleum company, Française De l’Énergie, has said that it aims to begin extracting hydrogen by 2027 or 2028.[https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/production/it-s-on-every-continent-bill-gates-backed-start-up-drilling-for-natural-hydrogen-in-the-us/2-1-1489380 'It’s on every continent' | Bill Gates-backed start-up drilling for natural hydrogen in the US] Hydrogeninsight.com. By Rachel Parkes. July 20, 2023. Accessed December 3, 2024.

Sources of natural hydrogen include:Zgonnik, P. Malbrunot: L'Hydrogene Naturel. Hrsg.: AFHYPAC Association française pour l'hydrogène et les piles à combustible. August 2020, S. 8 p., p. 5 {{in lang|fr}}.

• degassing of deep hydrogen from Earth's crust and mantle;[https://archive.org/details/B-001-026-834-PDF-060 "Our Earth"]. V. N. Larin, Agar, 2005 {{in lang|ru}}
• reaction of water with ultrabasic rocks (serpentinisation);
• water in contact with reducing agents in Earth's mantle;
• weathering – water in contact with freshly exposed rock surfaces;
• decomposition of hydroxyl ions in the structure of minerals;
• natural water radiolysis;
• decomposition of organic matter;
• biological activity

Serpentinization is thought to produce approximately 80% of the world's hydrogen, especially as seawater interacts with iron- and magnesium-rich (ultramafic) igneous rocks in the ocean floor. Current models point towards radiolysis as the source of most other natural hydrogen.

According to the Financial Times, there are 5 trillion tons of natural hydrogen resources worldwide. Most of this hydrogen is likely dispersed too widely to be economically recoverable, but the U.S. Geological Survey has reported that even a fractional recovery could meet global demand for hundreds of years. A discovery in Russia in 2008 suggests the possibility of extracting native hydrogen in geological environments.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Resources have been identified in France,{{Cite web |last=Paddison |first=Laura |date=2023-10-29 |title=They went hunting for fossil fuels. What they found could help save the world |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/climate/white-hydrogen-fossil-fuels-climate/index.html |access-date=2023-10-29 |publisher=CNN}} Mali, the United States, and approximately a dozen other countries.{{cite journal |last1=Prinzhofer |first1=Alain |last2=Moretti |first2=Isabelle |last3=Françolin |first3=Joao |last4=Pacheco |first4=Cleuton |last5=D'Agostino |first5=Angélique |last6=Werly |first6=Julien |last7=Rupin |first7=Fabian |title=Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure |journal=International Journal of Hydrogen Energy |date=March 2019 |volume=44 |issue=12 |pages=5676–5685 |doi=10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.01.119 |s2cid=104328822 |url=https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02187461/file/2019_Prinzhofer_moretti_al%20%281%29.pdf}}

In 2023 Pironon and de Donato announced the discovery of a deposit they estimated to be some 46 million to 260 million metric tons (several years worth of 2020s production).{{Cite news |last=Alderman |first=Liz |date=December 4, 2023 |title=It Could Be a Vast Source of Clean Energy, Buried Deep Underground |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/business/energy-environment/clean-energy-hydrogen.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk0.9imV.6IqQc0Ic4zYr&smid=url-share}} In 2024, a natural deposit of helium and hydrogen was discovered in Rukwa, Tanzania.,{{cite web | url=https://www.gasworld.com/story/helium-one-itumbula-west-1-records-positive-concentrations/2133704.article/ | title=Helium One Itumbula West-1 records positive concentrations | date=5 February 2024 }} as well in Bulqizë, Albania.{{cite web | url=https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/white-hydrogen-albania-mine/8563494/#google_vignette | title=Will Albania's Huge White Hydrogen Deposit Change the Clean Energy Game? - H2 News | date=7 March 2024 }}

{{Main|Midcontinent Rift System|Nemaha Ridge}}

File:Mid-continental Rift System.webp]]

White hydrogen could be found or produced in the Mid-continental Rift System at scale. Water could be pumped down to hot iron-rich rock to produce hydrogen for extraction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/potential-geologic-hydrogen-next-generation-energy|title=The Potential for Geologic Hydrogen for Next-Generation Energy | U.S. Geological Survey|website=www.usgs.gov|date=25 January 2018 }} Dissolving carbon dioxide in these fluids could allow for simultaneous carbon sequestration through carbonation of the rocks. The resulting hydrogen would be produced through a carbon-negative pathway and has been referred to as "orange" hydrogen.Osselin, F., Soulaine, C., Faugerolles, C., Gaucher, E.C., Scaillet, B., and Pichavant, M., 2022, Orange hydrogen is the new Green: Nature Geoscience.

Natural hydrogen is generated from various sources. Many hydrogen emergences have been identified on mid-ocean ridges.L'hydrogène dans une économie décarbonée (connaissancedesenergies.org) Serpentinisation occurs frequently in the oceanic crust; many targets for exploration include portions of oceanic crust (ophiolites) which have been obducted and incorporated into continental crust. Aulacogens such as the Midcontinent Rift System of North America are also viable sources of rocks which may undergo serpentinisation.

Diagenetic origin (iron oxidation) in the sedimentary basins of cratons, notably are found in Russia.

Mantle hydrogen and hydrogen from radiolysis (natural electrolysis) or from bacterial activity are under investigation. In France, the Alps and Pyrenees are suitable for exploitation.{{Cite journal |last=Gaucher |first=Éric C.|author-link=Éric Claude Gaucher|date=June 2020 |title=Une découverte d'hydrogène naturel dans les Pyrénées-Atlantiques, première étape vers une exploration industrielle |trans-title=A natural hydrogen discovery in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, the first step towards industrial exploration|url=https://www.geosoc.fr/toutes-les-actualites/listid-21/mailid-1091-dernier-numero-de-la-revue-geologues-hydrogene-et-gaz-rares.html | language=fr |journal=Géologues, Société géologique de France |issue=213 |access-date=May 2, 2023}} New Caledonia has hyperalkaline sources that show hydrogen emissions.{{cite journal |last1=Prinzhofer |first1=Alain |last2=Tahara Cissé |first2=Cheick Sidy |last3=Diallo |first3=Aliou Boubacar |title=Discovery of a large accumulation of natural hydrogen in Bourakébougou (Mali) |journal=International Journal of Hydrogen Energy |date=October 2018 |volume=43 |issue=42 |pages=19315–19326 |doi=10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.08.193 |bibcode=2018IJHE...4319315P |s2cid=105839304}}

Hydrogen is soluble in fresh water, especially at moderate depths as solubility generally increases with pressure. However, at greater depths and pressures, such as within the mantle,{{Cite journal |last1=Bali |first1=Eniko |last2=Audetat |first2=Andreas |last3=Keppler |first3=Hans |date=2013 |title=Water and hydrogen are immiscible in Earth's mantle |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11908 |journal=Nature |volume=495 |issue=7440 |pages=220–222|doi=10.1038/nature11908 |pmid=23486061 |bibcode=2013Natur.495..220B |s2cid=2222392 }} the solubility decreases due to the highly asymmetric nature of mixtures of hydrogen and water.

Vladimir Vernadsky originated the concept of natural hydrogen captured by the Earth in the process of formation from the post-nebula cloud. Cosmogonical aspects were anticipated by Fred Hoyle. From 1960–2010, V.N. Larin developed the Primordially Hydridic Earth conceptV.N. Larin (1993). Hydridic Earth, Polar Publishing, Calgary, Alberta. https://archive.org/details/Hydridic_Earth_Larin_1993{{dubious|date=January 2024}} that described deep-seated natural hydrogen prominenceOur Earth. V.N. Larin, Agar, 2005 (rus.) https://archive.org/details/B-001-026-834-PDF-060 and migration paths.

• Larin V.N. 1975 Hydridic Earth: The New Geology of Our Primordially Hydrogen-Rich Planet (Moscow: Izd. IMGRE) in Russian
• V.N. Larin (1993). Hydridic Earth, Polar Publishing, Calgary, Alberta. [https://archive.org/details/Hydridic_Earth_Larin_1993 Hydridic Earth: the New Geology of Our Primordially Hydrogen-rich Planet]
• Our Earth. V.N. Larin, Agar, 2005 (rus.) [https://archive.org/details/B-001-026-834-PDF-060 Наша Земля (происхождение, состав, строение и развитие изначально гидридной Земли)]
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• Pure-play helium
• Electrofuel
• Hydrogen economy
• Hydrogen production
• Combined cycle hydrogen power plant
• Hydrogen fuel cell power plant

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