Energy is an interesting concept. It is the essence of all existence, as without it, nothing will be able to function as it should. From the life of all beings to all processes, it is the bedrock of our world as we know it. Now, can you imagine 170,000 years of energy? If not, you should have a look at the Earth’s crust, because it is hidden within there, and America is planning on extracting it. Just think what we can do with that much energy!
This energy is hidden within Earth’s crust
According to Professor Chris Ballentine, chair of geochemistry at the University of Oxford and lead author of a new review article on hydrogen production in Earth’s crust, Earth consists of numerous hydrogen reservoirs that are hidden under various parts of the world. Ballentine’s paper and its authors indicate that Earth has generated hydrogen within the continental crust for more than 1 billion years. What still must become clear is how to safely and economically extract the hydrogen, as well as how much.
“The game of the moment is to find where it has been released, accumulated and preserved.” – Professor Ballentine.
Energy creates energy. Many natural reactions could produce hydrogen, but the most common is a chemical reaction that separates water into its elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Ballentine indicated that a host is also needed for these reactions, with any type of rock being a potential source of hydrogen. This means that natural hydrogen reservoirs need three crucial factors to be formed:
- A hydrogen source
- Reservoir rocks
- Natural seals to capture gas underground
These are the hotspots on Earth to find hydrogen reservoirs
The paper indicates that the Earth’s tectonic plate movement and extremely high-temperature flow could result in hydrogen being released within the Earth’s crust, which would assist in moving hydrogen near the surface to build up and create a reservoir. This reservoir can then be exploited for commercial purposes. In 2022, the world used nearly 90 million tonnes of hydrogen. According to Futura, some regions have been identified as hotspots for hydrogen reservoirs.
Australia has been identified to have hydrogen reservoirs, and drilling has officially begun in the land down under. France already received permits in late 2023 to extract hydrogen, with reservoirs in 3 regions. The Moselle region was identified to have a 46 million-tonne natural hydrogen reserve. The United States is also a hotspot, with the USGS identifying at least 30 states with potential, including Michigan, Kentucky, North Dakota, and California.
America wants to extract hydrogen for this reason
The global demand for hydrogen is increasing, as it is needed to produce crucial industrial chemicals such as methanol and ammonia, which can be found in most fertilizers. Hydrogen may even help the global transition away from fossil fuels since the gas can power both vehicles and power plants. Unfortunately, certain hydrogens, such as grey hydrogen, are created from hydrocarbons and emit high amounts of greenhouse gases.
This is why natural hydrogen, also known as white hydrogen, can be a game changer, especially within America, which has a growing electric vehicle industry. The natural hydrogen reservoirs will ultimately lower the world’s carbon footprint and speed up the global energy transition. Natural hydrogen will also lower the dependency on oil in transportation as well as in electricity production.
By increasing our knowledge of where and how natural hydrogen builds up in the Earth’s crust, we might unlock an enormous potential to meet global energy needs for the next 170,000 years. It is also important to know when hydrogen is polluting and when it is not.
To get more information about this discovery, you can consult the full study here: Ballentine, C.J., Karolytė, R., Cheng, A. et al. Natural hydrogen resource accumulation in the continental crust. Nat Rev Earth Environ 6, 342–356 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00670-1.
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