Natural hydrogen (known as white hydrogen, geologic hydrogen,[1]geogenic hydrogen,[2] or gold hydrogen), is hydrogen that is formed by natural processes[3][4] (as opposed to hydrogen produced in a laboratory or in industry). A closely related artificially produced form of hydrogen is green hydrogen which is produced from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy. Non-renewable forms of hydrogen include grey, brown, blue or black hydrogen which are obtained from the processing of fossil fuels.[5]
Natural hydrogen is believed to exist in economically viable concentrations and locations on every continent.[6] Natural hydrogen may be capable of supplying mankind's "projected global hydrogen demand for thousands of years," is non-polluting, may be available at significantly lower end user costs per therm than industrial hydrogen, and may be renewable.[7][8] Natural hydrogen has been identified in many source rocks in areas beyond the sedimentary basins where oil companies typically operate.[9][10][11]
History
In Adelaide Australia in the 1930’s local oil well drillers reported finding “vast amounts of high-purity hydrogen.” Unfortunately at the time, this hydrogen was viewed as merely a useless byproduct of the oil drilling industry, and no efforts were made to harvest this hydrogen. In 1987 in the village of Bourakébougou in Mali, Africa, a worker attempted to light his cigarette next to a certain water well, and the well unexpectedly caught fire.[12]
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. To date, the Malian hydrogen well remains as the world’s first and only economically successful hydrogen well.[12]
In recent years interest in natural hydrogen has increased as investors like Bill Gates and others have made millions of dollars in investments into the development of natural hydrogen wells in places like 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.[6][12]
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.
Resources and reserves
According to the Financial Times, there are 5 trillion tons of natural hydrogen resources worldwide.[1] 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] Resources have been identified in France,[15]Mali, the United States, and approximately a dozen other countries.[16]
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).[17] In 2024, a natural deposit of helium and hydrogen was discovered in Rukwa, Tanzania.,[18] as well in Bulqizë, Albania.[19]
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.[20] 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.[21]
Geology
Natural hydrogen is generated from various sources. Many hydrogen emergences have been identified on mid-ocean ridges.[22] 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.[20]
Diagenetic origin (iron oxidation) in the sedimentary basins of cratons, notably are found in Russia.
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,[25] the solubility decreases due to the highly asymmetric nature of mixtures of hydrogen and water.
Literature
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 concept[26][dubious – discuss] that described deep-seated natural hydrogen prominence[27] and migration paths.
Bibliography
Larin V.N. 1975 Hydridic Earth: The New Geology of Our Primordially Hydrogen-Rich Planet (Moscow: Izd. IMGRE) in Russian
Deville, Eric; Prinzhofer, Alain (November 2016). "The origin of N2-H2-CH4-rich natural gas seepages in ophiolitic context: A major and noble gases study of fluid seepages in New Caledonia". Chemical Geology. 440: 139–147. Bibcode:2016ChGeo.440..139D. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.06.011.
Gregory Paita, Master Thesis, Engie & Université de Montpellier.[title missing]
Moretti I., Pierre H. Pour la Science, special issue in partnership with Engie, vol. 485; 2018. p. 28. N march. Moretti I, D'Agostino A, Werly J, Ghost C, Defrenne D, Gorintin L. Pour la Science, special issue, March 2018, vol 485, 24 25XXII_XXVI.[title missing]
Prinzhofer, Alain; Tahara Cissé, Cheick Sidy; Diallo, Aliou Boubacar (October 2018). "Discovery of a large accumulation of natural hydrogen in Bourakébougou (Mali)". International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 43 (42): 19315–19326. Bibcode:2018IJHE...4319315P. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.08.193. S2CID105839304.
^La rédaction: Hydrogène naturel : une source potentielle d'énergie renouvelable. In: La Revue des Transitions. 7 November 2019, retrieved 17 January 2022 (in French).
^Deville, Eric; Prinzhofer, Alain (November 2016). "The origin of N2-H2-CH4-rich natural gas seepages in ophiolitic context: A major and noble gases study of fluid seepages in New Caledonia". Chemical Geology. 440: 139–147. Bibcode:2016ChGeo.440..139D. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.06.011.
^Gregory Paita, Master Thesis, Engie & Université de Montpellier.
^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 French).
^"Our Earth". V. N. Larin, Agar, 2005 (in Russian)
^Osselin, F., Soulaine, C., Faugerolles, C., Gaucher, E.C., Scaillet, B., and Pichavant, M., 2022, Orange hydrogen is the new Green: Nature Geoscience.
^L'hydrogène dans une économie décarbonée (connaissancedesenergies.org)
^Prinzhofer, Alain; Tahara Cissé, Cheick Sidy; Diallo, Aliou Boubacar (October 2018). "Discovery of a large accumulation of natural hydrogen in Bourakébougou (Mali)". International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 43 (42): 19315–19326. Bibcode:2018IJHE...4319315P. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.08.193. S2CID105839304.
