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Discover the climate risk of extracting hydrogen underground. Can this sustainable fuel accelerate global warming?
Global warming is a constant threat that, thanks to the search for new fuels such as hydrogen and unprecedented sources of energy, we are beginning to cope — although how quickly we move forward is another matter.
The world finds itself in a complicated situation when it comes to fuels. Pollution has created situations that are difficult for the planet to assimilate. In this context, an energy reservoir for millennia (as you read) has just been discovered. However, opening it could accelerate climate change instead of enriching our energy mix with a clean, sustainable source. Why do we say this? It doesn't just matter what we look for, but also how we access it and, above all, how we extract it.
We have a fuel that would last centuries: you hear about it every day, hydrogen
The fuel we're talking about is one you hear about every day, especially in the field of automation: hydrogen. Enough hydrogen reserves have been found to power the entire civilization for centuries.
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A report from the US Geological Survey argues that there is enough natural hydrogen trapped underground to satisfy demand for hundreds of years. Geoffrey Ellis, of the United States Geological Survey, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held recently in Denver, that there are up to 5,5 trillion tons of H in underground deposits around the world.
Hydrogen is an element that is on the list of great promises to combat the energy crisis and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, a few months ago it came to light that the Bulqizë chromite mine in Albania is capable of producing more than 200 tons of hydrogen per year.
Exploiting naturally found hydrogen (geological or golden hydrogen) may represent the cleanest and most economical way to obtain it.
Global warming remains a threat
Ellis spent a lot of time conducting a study that has not yet been published. In it, he will detail the surprising results he has now seen, although he indicates that it may not be easy to access this gas. “Most hydrogen is likely to be inaccessible,” he commented to the Financial Times.
“But a small percentage of recovery would still provide all of the predicted demand (500 million tons per year) for hundreds of years,” he declared. According to him, the hydrogen deposits are exceptional and may have been generated by the contact of certain iron-rich materials with groundwater. However, in some cases, H may not be in its purest form.
In these cases, it may be accompanied by other gases, such as methane, and must be separated. Its extraction releases methane into the atmosphere, which is the “dark” part of the news. It is important to remember that methane is a greenhouse gas that is 85 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a two-decade cycle.
Despite this data, the scientist argues that it has great potential to be more ecological than green hydrogen itself.
The problem: Extracting it inappropriately could accelerate climate change
In fact, no one ignores that this reservoir of hydrogen is in the bowels of the Earth. What can we do to access it? Previous explorations of similar deposits were carried out in two very different ways:
- With huge drilling machines that end up generating contaminating emissions into the atmosphere.
- With heavy machinery, but powered by renewable fuels (hydrogen or electric).
As for the processing plant — which you may remember we have already talked about before — the only sustainable solution is for it to run on renewable energy. Only in this way, we would be talking about green, blue or gold hydrogen, and not fuchsia or brown, which are in no way suitable.
For this reason, although this fuel may have an abundant reserve, the possible acceleration of global warming discourages some experts.
