Natural hydrogen exploration ‘boom’
snaps up one third of South Australia – pv magazine International
Image: Guilhem Vellut, flickr
Underground salt caverns (pictured) have
been posited as a potential place to store hydrogen, but it seems
hydrogen may already be abundant in gas form under our feet.
Explorations companies are newly scrambling to find out.
In a rapid escalation from
zero activity in February last year, exploration companies are now
scrambling to look for what they believe could be the cheapest,
easiest way to get their hands on the much hyped “future fuel”:
hydrogen.
In the last 12 months, six
different companies have either been granted or applied for 18
Petroleum Exploration Licences across the state of South Australia,
according to Australian energy consultancy EnergyQuest. Combined, the
area under permit equates to around 570,000 square kilometres (km2)
or 32% of the entire state, the consultancy has found, referring to
the sudden influx as a “boom”.
Natural hydrogen
Until now, natural or native
hydrogen has been largely overlooked – despite it being described as
“widespread in nature” by natural hydrogen researcher Viacheslav
Zgonnik in a
2020 paper. Natural hydrogen deposits form
through chemical reactions underground, with Zgonnik saying the
molecule has been detected at high concentrations, often as the major
gas, in all types of geologic environments.
Nonetheless, natural hydrogen
has garnered relatively little interest – even as recent years have
seen enthusiasm for the molecule skyrocket with thousands of companies
announcing a plethora of means to produce it.
Queensland company Gold Hydrogen has been granted the right to explore
approximately 9,500km2 in the southern part of the Yorke Peninsula
through to Kangaroo Island in search of natural hydrogen deposits.Gold
Hydrogen
The renewed interest in these
underground cavities filled with hydrogen came, according to
EnergyQuest, from the “chance rediscovery” of historical reports of
two wells drilled in the 1930s where high purity hydrogen was
detected.
The company which now owns the
exploration rights to the area where this high-purity
hydrogen was detected is Brisbane-based firm Gold Hydrogen. It has
been granted the right to explore approximately 9,500km2 near
Adelaide, specifically the southern part of the Yorke Peninsula
through to Kangaroo Island.
According to
Gold Hydrogen, its exploration licence 687, which was last
year expanded by the state government to include hydrogen,
was granted after director Luke Titus provided evidence of discoveries
of flowing natural hydrogen with contents of up to 90% purity. Follow
up testing near the discoveries have been independently verified and
audited, the company says, adding that its rights permit it to begin
undertaking further exploration testing from 2022.
Gold Hydrogen’s aim is to be
the first in Australia to produce, use and sell natural hydrogen which
it described as an “inexhaustible source of green energy.”
Why it is calling the source, which would essentially be mined,
“inexhaustible” is because it is believed the chemical reaction that
leads to underground hydrogen deposits continually regenerates, though
it is also critical to note that technical and scientific knowledge of
natural hydrogen reservoirs is limited.
In January, Western Australian startup H2EX announced
it has about 25,000 km2 in
South Australia to explore for natural hydrogen to commence early next
year.H2EX/LinkedIn
That said, in
March last year the
CSIRO published a paper entitled ‘Hydrogen
in Australian natural gas: occurrences, sources and resources’ in
which the Commonwealth scientific research agency considered natural
hydrogen, updating the “scarce reporting of hydrogen in Australian
natural gas”.
There has also been
considerable interest in storing hydrogen in salt caverns and other
underground formations. It appears natural hydrogen uses these
principles without human intervention.
Potential to dramatically cut costs
Despite the lack of research,
Australians – and indeed a number of companies internationally –
remain undeterred, likely because of the potential for natural
hydrogen to be three to four times cheaper than that produced via
electrolysis or gas reforming with carbon capture. Gold Hydrogen
estimates it should be able to produce natural hydrogen for less than
$2.30 per kg, compared to manufactured hydrogen projects being
produced at greater than $6 per kg.
Importantly, it seems natural
hydrogen would still carry the label “green”, though again it may be
too early to say.
Mali natural hydrogen pilot
To date, the
only major discovery and implementation of natural hydrogenreservoirs have been in Mali in west Africa. In 2012,
natural hydrogen was discovered and eventually connected to a fuel
cell to supply electricity to the town of Bourabougu.
Canadian
company Hydroma, behind the project, is now preparing to produce and
export its natural hydrogen.
