A Discovery Underground Is Raising New Questions About the Future of Clean Energy

Energy resources are normally thought of in terms of oil deposits, coal formations, or huge solar farms. However, beneath the Earth’s crust, scientists are now starting to explore something very different from these: natural hydrogen gas. Hydrogen has been talked about for decades as a clean source of energy, but it is normally produced artificially with the help of electricity or fossil fuels. Due to recent findings, scientists are now realizing that it may be produced by the Earth itself beneath its crust.

The first major hint appeared in 1987 in Mali, when geologists came in contact with hydrogen gas escaping from a borehole. At the time, the discovery seemed to confuse experts because conventional geological thinking went with the assumption that hydrogen could not accumulate underground in large quantities.

The gas turned out to be part of a naturally occurring reservoir, according to reporting summarized by Live Science.


After a few years, the same source began supplying electricity to a nearby village, which proved that natural hydrogen could be used as a practical energy resource. Since then, the so-called “gold hydrogen” has gained widespread interest. Research discussed in Scientific American explains that the Mali site pushed scientists to reevaluate how hydrogen forms inside Earth’s crust. They reached the conclusion that it may be generated continuously through chemical reactions occurring deep within rocks, rather than being rare.

Several processes seemed to contribute to this formation. One involves reactions between water and iron-rich minerals, which can release hydrogen gas as oxidation takes place. Radiolysis, another naturally-occuring process, takes place when natural radiation from elements such as uranium and thorium splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. These reactions can occur across many types of crustal rocks, suggesting hydrogen generation may be widespread, as indicated by studies referenced in GeoscienceWorld and ScienceDirect.

Research cited in Nature Geoscience suggests that over the past billion years, Earth’s continental crust may have generated enough hydrogen to possibly power human civilization for roughly 170,000 years at today’s energy consumption rates. The scale of the estimate has drawn attention from energy researchers, despite much of this gas having escaped or reacting with surrounding minerals. Scientists are now trying to determine where hydrogen might accumulate in usable reservoirs, and according to exploration studies cited in Geology Today and the Journal of Geochemical Exploration, suitable deposits require porous rock layers that can trap the gas beneath sealing formations like salt or shale.

Natural hydrogen has potential advantages over conventional methods of producing it. The US Department of Energy states, “Most of today’s hydrogen is produced using industrial processes that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If we can directly obtain it from natural reservoirs, it is possible that its ‘ecological footprint’ will be significantly smaller.” Of course, there are many unknowns involved in exploring it, as it is difficult to find good reservoirs, and the infrastructure for its extraction and transportation is still in its early stages. Energy experts, as quoted by the IEA, say that the need for hydrogen could rise significantly across the globe by 2050, especially in industries and transportation sectors. For now, it is still in its infancy as a scientific milestone, but the idea of untapped energy reserves beneath the earth’s surface is starting to dazzle the scientific community.