TELF AG examines the energy potential of natural hydrogen 

New perspectives 

Until a few years ago, natural hydrogen reserves were believed to be extremely limited, almost non-existent. But from the 1980s onwards, when it became clear that various points in the Earth’s crust could contain natural hydrogen (also known as white hydrogen), the situation has changed notably, with some of the most recent estimates even speaking of 5tn tonnes of hydrogen locked up in various areas of the globe. Nowadays, interest in white hydrogen attracts, above all, the scientific community and the world of industry, in particular, the possibility of obtaining alternative energy from one of the most promising resources that can be found on Earth. 

One of the places that would contain a certain amount of white hydrogen is Greenland, especially in its oldest geological areas (about 2 billion years old), where a few months ago, a group of researchers from the Italian University of Bologna carried out in-depth studies on the processes of formation and circulation of white hydrogen. The research group, in particular, concentrated its efforts on a specific type of hydrogen formed through radiolysis, consisting of splitting the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen through some peculiar decay processes that occur in rocks. The potential of this resource is still to be explored, mainly because it is a very recent discovery. The first discoveries occurred within the ocean floor and in some specific points on land, where the presence of geological contexts rich in natural hydrogen was ascertained. 

Unexpected discoveries 

But how does the production of this natural resource occur? One of the methods is represented by the radiolysis, but there could be others. From this point of view, one of the most interesting aspects is that in recent years, white hydrogen has been discovered in places on Earth where it would not have been legitimated to expect to find it. The belief was that this resource was very mobile and was trying in every way to move away from the planet. The latest discoveries, however, have highlighted the presence of white hydrogen accumulated in large quantities.  

The continuous progress, from this point of view, has also provided valuable information on the circulation of hydrogen in rocks, on the reaction of this resource with the geological elements that surround it and on its accumulation methods. The nations that already use natural hydrogen are globally limited (some are in Africa). Still, exploration initiatives are increasing rapidly: among the most recent, we can mention those in Australia, the United States, and the Philippines. In addition to its possible applications related to the development of clean energy, white hydrogen has also attracted the interest of the scientific community for other reasons related to evolutionary theories, and in particular for the possibility that this resource was at the basis of the development of the first forms of life on the planet. 

One of the most interesting avenues for the possible applications of white hydrogen is linked to its potential use as an energy vector, that is, as a zero-emission gaseous substance produced in the context of renewable energy.