Natural Hydrogen FAQ

  • Natural hydrogen is hydrogen that naturally occurs underground. In places where it occurs in high enough concentrations, it could be produced and used as a renewable and low carbon source of energy. When pure hydrogen is consumed for energy, the by-product is water vapour, making it an ideal fuel for a decarbonised energy future.

  • There are many processes identified which can generate hydrogen in the subsurface. The most important ones are:

    • Ground water interacting with Fe rich rocks in a process called serpentinization.

    • Ground water interacting with natural radioactive rocks in a process called radiolysis.

    • Hydrogen from deep mantle sources.

    • Hydrogen generated by crushing of silica in active fault zones.

    • Hydrogen generated by excessive heating of hydrocarbons in the subsurface.

    • Anaerobic digestion of organic material generates hydrogen

    Hydrogen after being generated migrates upwards towards the surface and in some instances can become trapped, forming an accumulation which can be exploited to produce hydrogen.

  • Occurrences of natural hydrogen are widespread around the world, but their size varies. One of the most well-known is the Bourakebougou Field in Mali, Africa where 98% Natural Hydrogen is produced from a shallow reservoir (approximately 110m deep) and is used as a renewable and clean energy source to generate electricity for a local village.

    Natural hydrogen has been identified in most Australian states and territories, but to date natural hydrogen has not been produced at scale.

  • Because it is in its early stages, techniques and workflows for natural hydrogen exploration, development and production are still evolving.

    However, it is likely that exploration for natural hydrogen will start with low impact methods such as satellite and airborne surveys, soil gas sampling, and geophysical surveys to image the subsurface.

    Once an area of interest has been located, an exploration well targeting the hydrogen-rich gas resource (with low concentration of other gases) is required to prove up the expected hydrogen pool. Exploration wells have surface infrastructure like a large water bore and may be repurposed as a water bore if natural hydrogen is not found.

    If concentrations of natural hydrogen are high enough to be commercial, the hydrogen from the wells can be produced into the surface facilities. Equipment needed to produce the hydrogen-rich gas includes separators, pipes and small-scale compressors before it is transported by road or pipeline networks.

    Alternatively, turbines or fuel cells can be used to generate electricity at the well site for local or grid transmission.

  • No. Fracking is not required to produce natural hydrogen.

  • The different colours of hydrogen refer to how the hydrogen is made. Green hydrogen is manufactured using electrolysis (separation of water molecules using renewable electricity) and blue Hydrogen is manufactured through steam methane reforming (the separation of methane into hydrogen and carbon dioxide) with the carbon captured and stored underground (CCS).

    As natural hydrogen is a naturally occurring source and does not need to be manufactured, it has the potential to have the lowest carbon footprint compared to the lifecycle of manufactured hydrogen. If found in commercial quantities, natural hydrogen is also likely to have the cheapest production cost per kg, with a price comparable to natural gas.

  • Hydrogen is typically supplied as a compressed gas. As the volume of a gas changes based on temperature and pressure, weight is the most reliable measure for hydrogen and kilogram units will continue to be the preferred method of measurement for hydrogen.

  • Hydrogen is colourless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic but highly combustible. Because it is highly combustible, hydrogen must be handled carefully to make sure it is safe. The hydrogen industry uses similar techniques to those used in the commercial gas industry for the safe storage and handling of hydrogen.

  • Natural hydrogen developments only extract hydrogen from the subsurface and only uses proven technologies which have no impact on the quality of the ground water or the water tables.

  • When drilling, a well pad of no larger 100 m x 100 m is required (size of four Olympic swimming pools). After the drilling finishes and the well is put on production, the area around the well is rehabilitated back to an area that is approx. 5 m x 5 m.

  • Prices of hydrogen depends on where you buy the hydrogen. At hydrogen pump in Germany, the price of kg of pure hydrogen is around $20 (Eur12.85 in June 2021), while the price for long term contracts in Europe is around $10 (Eur5-9 in June 2021). In Australia the price of a kg of hydrogen in 2022 was around $5.5 (US$3.9). It is expected the price of a kg of pure hydrogen will go down as the manufacturing capacity of hydrogen increases, with forecasts varying.

  • Contact us if you have your own question you’d like answered.

    Ask away