Chuck Darwin<p>Naturally occurring underground pockets of pure hydrogen are generating attention as a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free power.
One interested party is the U.S. Department of Energy, which last month awarded $20 million in research grants to 18 teams from laboratories, universities, and private companies to develop technologies that can lead to cheap, clean fuel from the subsurface.
<a href="https://c.im/tags/Geologic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Geologic</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/hydrogen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hydrogen</span></a>, as it’s known, is produced when water reacts with iron-rich rocks, causing the iron to oxidize.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are potentially billions of tons of geologic hydrogen buried in the Earth’s crust. <br>Accumulations have been discovered worldwide, and a slew of startups are searching for extractable deposits. <br>One of the grant recipients, MIT Assistant Professor Iwnetim Abate’s research group, will use its $1.3 million grant to determine the ideal conditions for producing hydrogen underground <br>— considering factors such as catalysts to initiate the chemical reaction, temperature, pressure, and pH levels. <br>The goal is to improve efficiency for large-scale production, meeting global energy needs at a competitive cost.<br>Abate is looking to jump-start the natural hydrogen production process, implementing “proactive” approaches that involve stimulating production and harvesting the gas.<br><a href="https://news.mit.edu/2024/iwnetim-abate-aims-extract-hydrogen-rocks-0408" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">news.mit.edu/2024/iwnetim-abat</span><span class="invisible">e-aims-extract-hydrogen-rocks-0408</span></a></p>