The U.S. Department of Energy is funding research to harness this resource, with projects focused on optimizing the natural production process and making it economically viable.

The Promise of Geologic Hydrogen

Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, is typically found bound with other elements—for instance, with oxygen in water or with carbon in methane. However, the discovery of naturally occurring underground pockets of pure hydrogen is challenging this assumption. These hidden reserves are attracting attention as a potentially limitless source of carbon-free energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy is among those taking notice. This year, it awarded $20 million in research grants to 18 teams from laboratories, universities, and private companies. The goal: to develop technologies that can produce cost-effective, clean fuel from underground hydrogen sources.

Gulf Coast and Midwest Hydrogen Hubs will Create Tens of Thousands of High-Quality Jobs, Deliver New Economic Opportunities, and Reinforce America’s Clean Manufacturing Boom

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $2.2 billion in award commitments for two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) that will help accelerate the commercial-scale deployment of low-cost, clean hydrogen—a valuable energy product that can be produced with zero or near-zero carbon emissions. The two awardees—Gulf Coast H2Hub and Midwest H2Hub—are critical pillars of DOE’s H2Hubs program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to kickstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure while supporting the production, storage, delivery, and end-use of clean hydrogen. Building a strong and equitable domestic clean hydrogen economy is a key component of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ plan to strengthen America’s economic competitiveness, create new good-paying, high-quality jobs, and slash harmful emissions that jeopardize public health and pollute local ecosystems.   

The German Federal Network Agency said it approved proposals from transmission system operators for a 9,040-kilometer hydrogen grid, which will be built out in the coming years and be fully operational by 2032. It’s set to form a core network that will connect industrial hubs — such as steel producers — seeking to decarbonize.

Europe’s largest economy wants to replace most of its fossil fuel needs with hydrogen to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. Lately, however, its push has faced setbacks with the cancellation of a key pipeline from Norway. Officials have said that the majority of Germany’s hydrogen needs will need to be covered by imports initially.

The original proposal for the core network was 600 kilometers longer than the plans that were ultimately approved, allowing the estimated cost to drop from €19.7 billion to €18.9 billion. Klaus Mueller, head of the Federal Network Agency, said parts of the initial plans would have been redundant. 

60% of the network will be converted from existing gas pipelines, and the rest will be newly built. Mueller said about 660 kilometers of current gas links will be strengthened, an effort that will cost €2 billion. The first pipes are set to be operational next year.

The “climate protection contracts” will be awarded to 15 projects and have been designed to cover the cost gap between hydrogen use and fossil fuels. The selected hydrogen initiatives will use the funding to decarbonise power processes.

Each company will receive their share retroactively, meaning only after companies have achieved their annual greenhouse gas reductions. H2 View understands that the contracts have a term of 15 years and will be adapted to the development of energy and CO2 prices, making them a “hedging instrument for companies.”

The Midcontinent Rift stretches from beneath Lake Superior, covering some parts of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Now, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers say that this rift may be a rich source of natural hydrogen. 

The team is exploring ways to study and access the hydrogen produced in the rift. However, the knowledge pertaining to it is currently limited.

“Our understanding of processes governing the production, migration and accumulation of evasive natural hydrogen in the continental deep subsurface is still in its infancy,” said Seunghee Kim, one of the project’s principal investigators.

Let’s set the stage a bit. The free money is from the Canadian government, which quite sensibly has a $2.75 billion zero emissions transit fund and program to assist municipalities across the country to ditch diesel buses and light rail in favor of transit that doesn’t emit greenhouse gases. (All figures in Canadian dollars.) So far, so good. Change costs money and federal tax dollars assisting with positive change is a very good thing as municipalities were an afterthought in Canada’s constitution, and so despite being the economic engines of the country and holding the vast majority of its population, have very little control or ability to raise money directly. (This is true globally, by the way, and something that really should be redressed.)

Globally, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) projects that 5.5 TW of electrolyzer capacity will be required by 2050 to meet climate goals. While the timelines and strategies for integrating hydrogen into the energy economy vary, EPRI is focusing on understanding applications of hydrogen to aid in power sector decarbonization while maintaining reliability and affordability.

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has created a company called Energy Solutions Co. to finance so-called green hydrogen power production, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. 

The Public Investment Fund expects the firm to invest at least $10 billion, the people said, though that number could grow significantly in years to come depending on demand for hydrogen and its investment pipeline. Some investments will be made with state oil producer Saudi Aramco, they said. 

The newly created company, which is expected to be helmed by former Thyssenkrupp Uhde chief executive officer Cord Landsmann, could be formally announced as soon as this month, the people said. It would be controlled and funded by the Public Investment Fund, the powerful sovereign investor driving many of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification efforts. 

Saudi Arabia is preparing to make a multibillion-dollar bet on hydrogen and will launch a new company to produce the much-hyped low-carbon fuel, according to people familiar with the matter.

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has created a company called Energy Solutions Co. to finance so-called green hydrogen power production, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.