China’s Sichuan Basin and the Philippines have emerged as prominent targets in the accelerating global search for commercially viable natural hydrogen. Modeling suggests Earth may contain enormous quantities of geologic hydrogen, although only a small and still-unknown fraction is likely to be technically and economically recoverable.
If commercial extraction approaches projected costs near or below $1 per kilogram, natural hydrogen could compete strongly with conventional and electrolytic hydrogen production.
Countries around the globe are racing to become the world’s first geologic hydrogen hotspot. A few years ago, the United States Department of Energy released a bombshell report that estimated that there are trillions of metric tons of natural hydrogen deposits sitting in underground pockets around the world.
Just this week, a new study out of China reported that scientists have measured record-breaking levels of hydrogen seepage in the Sichuan Basin.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, private interests are starting to swarm around similar hydrogen seeps.
The potential impact of commercially scalable geologic hydrogen operations is difficult to overstate.
