White
Hydrogen and its potential benefits
What
is white hydrogen?
The
term white hydrogen refers to the process by which hydrogen is generated and
the potential effect it can have on the environment form the production or extraction
process. “Hydrogen, often referred to by different colors, represents various
production methods and environmental impacts”. (Boyle, Louise 2023). This has given rise to what is called the Hydrogen
Spectrum. The Hydrogen spectrum is so called due to allocation of different colors
to the hydrogen generation or extraction method that is representative of its
potential negative impact to the environment. This spectrum ranges from brown
to green, with the color green being the technology or process which would
result in the least negative affect to the environment.
Meaning
of the colors
The
Hydrogen spectrum is primarily made up of the following colors – gray, brown, blue,
green and white. Gray hydrogen refers to the process of extracting hydrogen
from methane gas. Brown hydrogen refers to the process of obtaining hydrogen
from coal. Blue hydrogen is the obtaining of hydrogen from methane gas but with
processes in place to capture and mitigate harmful byproducts and resulting pollutants
that occur during the extraction of hydrogen from methane. Green hydrogen is the
hydrogen that is obtained when renewal energy such as solar and wind is used as
the energy source for splitting water molecules to get hydrogen. In terms of generating
hydrogen from a source material this is the least environmentally harmful. “The
most promising, from a climate perspective, is "green" hydrogen,
produced using renewable energy to split water molecules. However, green
hydrogen production remains relatively small-scale and costly.” (Boyle, Louise 2023).
White hydrogen is the tapping into the reservoirs of naturally occurring hydrogen
that is stored in rocks underground and is considered a potentially abundant
and untapped resource of clean energy that is nonpolluting. It is considered nonpolluting
as the process of burning hydrogen produces only water.
Accidental
Discoveries
For
over a decade a village called Bourakébougou
in the Western African country of Mali, has been powering is its electrical
systems by a naturally occurring source of hydrogen that had a literal explosive
discovery.
In 1987
while the community was drilling a well to provide water, they unknowingly caused
the release of a colorless odorless gas. A worker who happened to be smoking at
the moment he leaned over the hole, caused an explosion that resulted in him being
badly burned. The well was subsequently capped until a Malian businessman 20
years later through his company called Hydroma, funded tests of the gas coming
from this well. The investigation he funded confirmed that the gas coming from
the well was hydrogen and at a purity level of 98%. Further investigation from
test wells from around the area has revealed that white hydrogen from this
potential reservoir exists in high concentrations over a large geographical area.
“In the past decade,
Hydroma has drilled 30 wells across an area about twice the size of Singapore,
all of which have yielded high concentrations of hydrogen.” (Shavit, JJ 2023). Estimates
from Hydroma, a company which emerged based purely on the discovery of this
high concentration of natural hydrogen, are that there are 630 billion cubic
meters of hydrogen in this natural gas field.
In 2023
two scientist that were conducting research in the Northeastern section of France,
to access the methane levels in the local Lorraine mining basin discovered a
vast reservoir of natural Hydrogen. They used an innovative probe that was
capable of analyzing gases that have been dissolved in deep underground rock’s
water. As the probe went deeper underground the concentration of hydrogen increased,
so that the concentration levels grew from 14% at 1,100 meters to 20% at 1,250
meters. This level of hydrogen concentration indicated that there could be between
6 million to 250 million metric tons of white hydrogen in this reservoir. This
discovery is a significant milestone as it indicates that white hydrogen reservoirs
can be actively searched for with technology as well as that exploitable reservoirs
are not resident only in Mali.
The US Geological
Survey estimates that there could possibly be between tens of millions to tens
of billions of megatons of white hydrogen confined in the earth’s crust. They also
indicated that a lot of it could be inaccessible to humans with our present
technology since it could either be too deep underground or too far offshore or
not confined in deposits that make it financially viable for extraction. The estimated
volume makes it potentially lucrative even if a very small percentage is within
reach of our technologies. “But
if just 1 per cent was recoverable, that would be enough hydrogen to keep the
world going for at least two centuries, even if there was a surge in demand for
hydrogen.” (Shavit, JJ 2023).
How
is White Hydrogen created.
The
process or processes that result in the generation of white Hydrogen is not
fully understood but the following hypotheses exist. These existing hypotheses include
the degassing of hydrogen directly from the earth’s core, possible the reaction
of water with ultrabasic rocks, natural radiolysis where water is split by naturally
occurring uranium or plutonium as well as possibly be the decomposition of
organic matter.
Potential
uses for White Hydrogen
Transportation
– It can be used to power fuel cell vehicles that have zero emission at the
tail pipe and presently have longer range than electric vehicles. Large battery
packs are needed to make long haul trucking viable which causes this segment of
the transportation sector to be underrepresented in the electrification of vehicles,
but fuel cells on long haul trucks could be viable option. “It is particularly
well-suited for heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses, where
electrification may be more challenging.” (Boyle, Louise 2023).
Industrial
processes: The production of steel and cement is a major source of greenhouse
gas emissions. By replacing the current energy fossil fuel sources used in these
industries with white hydrogen a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
could be achieved. “Replacing fossil fuels with white hydrogen in these
industries could significantly reduce their carbon footprint.” (Boyle, Louise 2023).
Power
generation: Hydrogen can be used to generate electricity as was the case in Bourakébougou Mali where they retrofitted ford
engine to generate electricity. On a larger industrial scale, white hydrogen deposits
could provide a clean and sustainable source of energy in place of greenhouse
gas emitting fossil fuels. “White hydrogen can be used to generate electricity
in fuel cells or hydrogen turbines. This could provide a clean and sustainable
alternative to power generation from fossil fuels.”
References: -
Shavit,
JJ (2023, November 22). Accidental white hydrogen discover could revolutionize
efforts to combat climate change.
Boyle,
Louise (2023, November 22). The hunt for ‘holy grail’ of clean energy buried
beneath the ground.
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