The hidden source of clean energy can power the planet for more than a hundred thousand years, if used, according to new studies.
Sources of hydrogen can hide in the earth’s crust – enough to feed Earth in its current energy needs over the next 170,000 years, according to a document published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on Wednesday.
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The concept of the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy is not new, but so far only 0.1% of hydrogen power is considered “green” or is produced in a “neutral climate” way, according to the World Economic Forum. Today, hydrogen is produced with the help of thermal steam and hydrocarbons, whose by -product contributes to 2.4% of global carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), researchers said in the University of Oxford’s press release.
There are probably “hydrogen systems” buried under the continents around the world, including in at least 30 US states, according to the document. Hydrogen gas has been built in the earth’s crust over the last billions of years, researchers said.
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Researchers have developed a “study recipe” to judge where hydrogen tanks can be, as well as where you would have the most economical sense to extract them.
“We have successfully developed a helium study strategy and a similar approach to” first principles “can be taken for hydrogen,” said John Glujas, chairman of Geoenergy, capturing carbon and storage at the University of Durham in England and co -author of the study.
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The “geological ingredients” needed for potential extraction areas are sufficient supply to the gas itself, tank rocks and a geological formation that prevents hydrogen from escaping into the atmosphere, the researchers said.
“We know, for example, that underground germs are easily feasting hydrogen,” says Barbara Sherwood Lolar, a professor of earthly sciences at the University of Toronto in Canada, in a statement. “Avoiding environments that bring them into contact with hydrogen is important for maintaining hydrogen in economic accumulation.”
The recipe for a study to find the accumulated hydrogen is “similar to the cooking of souffle,” says Chris Balentin, chairman of geochemistry at the University of Oxford and a leading author of the newspaper, in a statement.
“Take one of the ingredients, quantities, time or temperature wrong and you will be disappointed,” Balentin said.
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Researchers believe that a “successful study recipe” that can be repeated will unlock a commercial competitive, sustainable source of hydrogen that could significantly contribute to the energy transition, Ballentine said.
On the contrary, studies show that other sources of hydrogen gas, such as the earth’s mantle, are not viable sources of hydrogen, despite much speculation, the researchers said.
“We have the right attempt to combine these ingredients and find this recipe,” he said.
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Reliable supply of hydrogen is vital to the function of the modern world, the researchers say. The fertilizer used for agriculture is produced by hydrogen, and the gas also serves as a “key energy component” for neutral carbon, the researchers said.
The global demand for hydrogen reached 97 million tonnes in 2023, but by 2050 the demand is expected to increase to 540 tonnes, the researchers said.
Production, followed by the funeral of CO2 waste or by renewable energy sources – such as wind or solar energy – can also be future sources of hydrogen, researchers said.
The hidden source of clean energy can feed Earth for 170,000 years, originally appeared on abcnews.go.com