A pair of geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, has created a model that shows Earth’s subsurface may hold up to 5.6 × 106 million metric tons of natural hydrogen. In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, Geoffrey Ellis and Sarah Gelman added factors to a geological model to produce estimates regarding the likely amount of hydrogen in parts of the Earth.
Prior research has shown that hydrogen can be produced artificially by applying electricity to water molecules to break them apart, leaving oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is also produced naturally, via chemical reactions between rocks when they come into contact with one another. But until relatively recently, it was thought that very little hydrogen was made this way.
When geologists found huge natural reservoirs of hydrogen gas in Albania and West Africa, that thinking changed. Now, researchers believe that there are huge stores of hydrogen below our feet—the question remains, however, how to find it.
In this new study, the researchers made estimates regarding the likely amount of hydrogen contained in rocks and reservoirs in the Earth’s subsurface, which is loosely defined as the stratum.
To make their estimates, they used a model that has been created over time by geologists who have been adding hydrogen characteristics, such as where it has been found thus far and in what quantities, and the rates at which it is known to be produced by natural processes. They then began adding other known factors, such as the amount of hydrogen in reservoirs and how much is leaking out from hydrogen-containing rocks.
The model showed there to be anywhere between 1 billion and 10 trillion tons of hydrogen in the subsurface—the researchers used averages to narrow the number down to 5.6 × 106 million metric tons. They readily acknowledge, however, that most of that hydrogen is probably inaccessible, but they also point out that harvesting just 2% of it could provide all of humanity’s energy needs for approximately two centuries.
More information:
Geoffrey S. Ellis et al, Model predictions of global geologic hydrogen resources, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado0955
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Model suggests Earth’s subsurface may hold up to 5.6 × 10⁶ million metric tons of natural hydrogen (2024, December 16)
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