Natural hydrogen: Mining giants and Big Oil jump on the bandwagonIf this is practicable on a large scale, it would be HUGE, life changing for many of us.
Natural hydrogen, sometimes known as white, gold or geologic hydrogen, refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth’s surface. The long-overlooked resource,
first discovered by accident in Mali nearly 40 years ago, contains no carbon and produces only water when burned.
Investor interest in the nascent natural hydrogen sector has been intensifying in recent months, fueling optimism initially driven by research startups and junior exploration companies.
Over the past year or so, some of the sector’s established backers include mining giants
Rio Tinto and
Fortescue, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the venture capital arm of British oil giant
BP and
Bill Gates’ clean tech investment fund
Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Not everyone’s convinced about the clean energy potential of natural hydrogen, however, with critics flagging environmental concerns and distribution challenges. For its part, the International Energy Agency has
warned there is a possibility that the resource “is too scattered to be captured in a way that is economically viable.”
