Imagine having a natural resource beneath the Earth that could power the global community for more than 200 years. Scientists have found underground reserves that could change everything we know and decipher about renewable energy. The whereabouts of trillions of tonnes of hydrogen gas are still unknown, although it is most likely hidden beneath the surface of the Earth in rocks and reservoirs.

The huge hidden reserves have the potential to power an entire country for centuries, despite the notion that many have regarding hydrogen in terms of scarcity and storage. In fact, this is natural hydrogen and not blue or green hydrogen that is complicated to maintain. If researchers have found this natural hydrogen, the question is, how will they extract it and implement it on a global scale?

Discovering a secret treasure: Hydrogen under our feet

Scientists estimate that a small portion of the hydrogen that lies beneath the surface of the Earth might eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels for 200 years. According to recent studies, the planet’s subterranean reservoirs and rocks contain about 6.2 trillion tonnes (5.6 trillion metric tonnes) of hydrogen. The location of these hydrogen stockpiles is unknown, but it is nearly 26 times the quantity of oil known to be left in the ground.

The discovery of naturally occurring hydrogen reserves challenges the paradigm by providing an abundant, untapped resource that could reshape global energy strategies. This element, regarded as a cornerstone of green energy, has primarily been produced synthetically through energy-intensive processes. Hydrogen is often perceived as the future of renewable resources because it is clean.

If we were to compare other renewable resources such as solar and wind energy, we would realise that solar and wind depend on weather conditions. So, if the weather is bad, you might not get the energy supply to its fullest potential. Now, with natural hydrogen, it is consistent and available always and does not depend on any weather circumstances or conditions.

Hydrogen is beyond just a renewable resource

Clean energy sources like hydrogen may be used to power industrial operations, power automobiles and engines, and provide electricity. We might get all the hydrogen we need to reach net-zero [carbon] for a few hundred years using just 2% of the hydrogen supplies identified in the study, or 124 billion metric tonnes (112 billion metric tonnes) of petrol.

According to the study, Ellis and his co-author Sarah Gelman, a USGS geologist, pointed out that the energy released by that quantity of hydrogen is around twice the energy contained in all of the Earth’s known natural gas reserves. The findings were released in the journal Science Advances on Friday, December 13. This is not an ordinary type of energy resource.

Reaching for the future: The possibility of extracting hydrogen

According to an article by Space.com, the researchers suspect that some of the deposits are too small to economically harvest and that the majority of the hydrogen is either too deep or too far offshore to be accessible. Geoffrey Ellis, a petroleum geochemist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the study’s principal author, told Space.com’s sister site, Live Science, that despite these restrictions, the findings show there is more than enough hydrogen.

Extracting hydrogen beneath our feet is a mission and a half. It requires a lot. From proper technological equipment to the rightfully skilled labour that understands how to navigate such a sophisticated task. Scientists are hopeful, citing current oil and gas extraction processes as a foundation for creating hydrogen-specific approaches.

Having said that, we should never ignore the environmental implications. The whole idea is to have sustainable energy to promote a green environment, but such extractions can damage the same environment we want to care for. Determining whether this discovery turns into a sustainable energy solution or a warning story will depend on finding a balance between using this resource and protecting the ecosystem.