A new source of clean energy has been discovered underground, which is geologic hydrogen. It is found under rocks and reservoirs, and may hold the key to a fossil-fuel-free future.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), using just 2% of the reserve underground hydrogen could power the United States for over 200 years. In discovery, around 124 billion tons of natural hydrogen have been found.
The Scientists guess that the Earth’s outer layer contains 6.2 trillion tons of natural hydrogen. This hydrogen is not like the synthetic one, which is made through energy-intensive processes.
The natural hydrogen is ready to use in its pure form. This makes it a promising clean energy option that does not require hard treatment or processing.
Hydrogen plays a major role in industries such as aviation, and it’s expected to power 30% of large industries in the future.
Earlier, scientists believed hydrogen could not stay underground due to its small, light molecules, thought to leak out through small openings in the Earth’s outer layer.
However, discoveries in Albania and West Africa challenged that belief, revealing hydrogen traps underground pockets where hydrogen gets stored near the surface and can be extracted.
So far, 110 million kilograms of hydrogen have already been discovered in the U.S. Other countries like Mali and Australia are also searching for underground hydrogen.
A team of researchers, which is guided by geochemist Geoffrey Ellis from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), is working to identify areas in the U.S. that have a lot of underground hydrogen, and they plan to finish this work by next year.
After all that, there are still challenges. The exact locations of many hydrogen reserves are unknown. Some may be too deep or offshore to extract economically.
The removal process and infrastructure right now are in early stages, and regulations could slow down the development.
If successful, this discovery could change the global energy scenario by providing a long-term, affordable, and clean energy source.
Source
https://www.ecoticias.com/en/source-of-energy-discovered-underground/16518
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