Can Underground Natural Hydrogen Assist the UK in Achieving Net Zero?

Recent discoveries of small amounts of underground hydrogen gas have sparked a global search for a potential zero carbon fuel source, yet the UK has largely been overlooked by prospectors.

According to a Briefing from the Royal Society on natural hydrogen production, the lack of exploration is not due to geological factors. “There are rocks that could produce hydrogen, but no research has been conducted,” states Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who contributed to a report at the University of Toronto.

The UK also doesn’t lack interest in gas. The latest Hydrogen Strategy highlights its crucial role in achieving the ambition of becoming a clean energy superpower through low-carbon production methods for heavy industry and transportation, yet natural hydrogen is not mentioned as a potential source.

Novelty plays a role in this oversight, according to Philip Ball, who contributed to the report and invests in natural hydrogen firms at Keele University. “Essentially no one is paying attention. There’s no regulation for this emerging sector, and there’s a lack of understanding.”

However, the situation may be changing. Ball notes that several companies have obtained rights to explore hydrogen in parts of the UK, including Devon in the southwest, while multiple universities conduct related research. The UK Geological Survey is also delving into the country’s potential for natural hydrogen, drawing on a wealth of existing geological data.

There is reason to believe that natural hydrogen exists beneath the surface. A report by the Royal Society notes that certain types of rocks, particularly iron-rich super-solid rocks, can generate hydrogen when interacting with water. Such formations are found in locations like the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall and Scotland’s Shetland Islands. Geoplasms in areas like the North Pennines could also yield hydrogen through the breakdown of water molecules via natural radioactivity.

“It will definitely be found in the UK,” Ball asserts. “The question remains whether it will be economically viable.”

If hydrogen is discovered in the UK, expectations should be tempered; Sherwood Lollar emphasizes that one of the report’s goals was to correct some exaggerated claims about natural hydrogen, such as the concept of massive quantities of gas continually rising from the Earth’s mantle and core.

Nonetheless, it is critical to consider conservative estimates of the hydrogen production within the Earth’s crust. The report indicates that around 1 million tonnes of hydrogen permeates the crust annually. “Even capturing a fraction of this could significantly contribute to the hydrogen economy,” Sherwood Lollar states.