Natural hydrogen could revolutionise the energy landscape but the probability of its success is currently low, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES).

Also known as white, gold, or geologic hydrogen, it naturally occurs under the surface of the Earth and can be obtained through processes similar to natural gas extraction.

Because it does not require any manufacturing, like its green and blue counterparts, and does not generate carbon emissions. If produced at scale and cheaply it could “completely transform the energy sector,” the researchers note, playing “a crucial role” in achieving global net zero goals. 

While exploration in many sites around the world is ongoing, the only confirmed commercial resource is the Bourakébougou field in Mali. Production started in 2012 after decades of development, and it now powers around 4,000 homes in the nearby village, Kallanish writes.

If this case were to be replicated at scale, its levelised cost could likely compete with that of grey hydrogen, the cheapest on the market today.

However, there are still significant uncertainties around natural hydrogen’s origination and accumulation mechanisms, OIES cautions, as well as the location of its most likely occurrences.

Moreover, of the three main types of naturally occurring hydrogen on Earth – H2 as a dissolved gas, as a gas in inclusions, and as a free gas – only the free gas form can be considered for cost-effective production with the currently available technologies.

Its viability would also require new infrastructure to what is being used for other types, as it has different physical properties.

“Turning this type of hydrogen into a competitive product will also require addressing the issues of its storage and transportation,” the OIES researchers say. “In this context, the low number of successfully developed large-scale underground H2 storage facilities, as well as land and maritime hydrogen transport options would substantially hamper this process.”

As such, considering all these limitations, OIES places the role of natural hydrogen in achieving net zero as a “low-probability, high-impact scenario,” though this may change as exploration and appraisal progress.