Giant reserves of ‘gold’ hydrogen may be lurking beneath at least 30 US states, 1st-of-its-kind map reveals
USGS researchers have unveiled the first map of prospective locations for hydrogen gas in the contiguous United States — and there’s a lot more than they previously thought.
A first-of-its-kind map of the United States has revealed the likely locations of huge, naturally occurring hydrogen reserves.
The map, which you can explore here, is the first to show prospective locations for hydrogen on such a huge scale, marking areas where hydrogen gas may be lurking beneath the surface in quantities large enough to extract.
The researchers who created the map already suspected there could be more hydrogen buried in Earth’s crust than scientists previously thought. But now that the results are out, even the team that created the map can’t quite believe their eyes, according to a statement.
Sarah Ryker, associate director for energy and mineral resources at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who did not participate in the research, said in the statement,
For decades, the conventional wisdom was that naturally occurring hydrogen did not accumulate in sufficient quantities to be used for energy purposes,
“This map is tantalizing because it shows that several parts of the U.S. could have a subsurface hydrogen resource after all.”
The map is graded from white to dark blue, with dark blue indicating areas that are highly prospective, meaning they are very likely to hold vast hydrogen reserves, and white indicating areas that are not prospective. Highly prospective areas include most of Michigan, eastern Kentucky and southern North Dakota, as well as parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa and Oklahoma.
Whether a region is a prospective location for hydrogen depends on three main factors coming together: a source (or sources) of hydrogen, reservoir rocks and natural seals to trap the gas underground. Geologic hydrogen — hydrogen that occurs naturally, also known as “white” or “gold” hydrogen — is produced through chemical reactions in rocks, the simplest being a reaction that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
Giant reserves of ‘gold’ hydrogen may be lurking beneath at least 30 US states, 1st-of-its-kind map reveals, source