Image showing hydrogen storage tanks. For representational purposes.
Credit: iStock Photo
With countries around the world pushing for more green energy, scientists in France may have found a game-changer: the world's largest natural reserve of hydrogen, valued at a whopping $92 billion.
According to a report by Interesting Engineering, scientists from the GeoResources laboratory at CRNS were hunting for methane in the Moselle region when they stumbled upon the deposit of white hydrogen at a depth of about 4,101 feet.
Unlike green or gray hydrogen which require industrial prodiction and extraction from fossil fuels respecively, white hydrogen is naturally occurring and could potentially be extracted without environmental consequences at low costs.
Why is this significant? Well, for perspective, the deposit uncovered in France is equivalent to half of the world's annual gray hydrogen production. Further, if extracted with proper care, the deposit could become major clean energy source that eliminates CO2 emissions entirely.
While hydrogen has been considered and used as an alternative fuel for years now, the industry has always faced two major challenges: the high cost of green hydrogen production, and the environmental cost of gray hydrogen production.
White hydrogen, in contrast, does not require energy-intensive processes like electrolysis that is required for green hydrogen production. Neither does white hydrogen extraction involve fossil fuels, making it a magic bullet for the industry.
Although such a deposit has only been found in France for now, if such deposits exist elswhere, they could bring about a paradigm shift in global energy production.
"Our research suggests that natural hydrogen could be far more abundant than previously thought," Dr Jacques Pironon, a scientist involved with the discovery, was quoted as saying by IE.
"If we can find efficient ways to extract and use it, we may have a powerful new tool in the fight against climate change," he added.