Gold hydrogen: Is there a huge reserve of clean fuel in Earth's crust? | New Scientist
Earth
Geologists think there may be vast natural stores of hidden hydrogen gas within Earth, but no one is sure how much there is or how much could be recovered for energy
6 March 2023
A hydrogen production plant in Germany
imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo
Earth may contain vast overlooked stores of hydrogen gas. If some of it is feasible to recover, this natural hydrogen could provide a source of clean-burning fuel that might accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and last for centuries.
Geologists have known for decades that millions of tonnes of hydrogen gas generated by natural geological processes seeps out of the ground every year, but it wasn’t seen as a viable source of energy.
Most geologists assumed the tiny hydrogen molecules wouldn’t stay …
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