New federal research highlights that Michigan could have significant amounts of hydrogen gas underground, which may present an untapped source for clean fuel.
Hydrogen gas can be used as a lightweight fuel for airplanes and trucks that does not emit carbon when burned. The big challenge is that hydrogen likes to bond to other elements — think H2O — so it takes a lot of energy to isolate hydrogen into a usable form.
But there may be large deposits of naturally-occurring hydrogen gas in Michigan, according to a new map from the U.S. Geological Survey.
"If you can extract it similar to the way you might extract, petroleum or natural gas from the ground, you can save yourself a lot of energy and costs because you don't have to separate it," said Todd Allen, co-director of MI Hydrogen, a research institute within the University of Michigan.
Allen said there are also some drawbacks to underground hydrogen. We don't exactly know where the deposits are and if there's enough to justify mining. There are also logistical challenges to overcome like transporting hydrogen to where it's needed.
The USGS hydrogen estimates are based on geological variables like hydrogen sources, reservoir rocks and seals to trap the gas.
USGS researchers note their model does not predict how or where hydrogen is in the subsurface, but the map is the "first of its kind" to highlight areas of interest with potential accumulations.
Allen said he believes hydrogen could be widely used in the future, and it's in similar place to where natural gas was a before industries figured out how to squeeze out previously-thought exhausted sources with fracking.
"You reach some critical point where somebody says this is a business opportunity now," he said. "That we have learned enough about where it is, how to extract it, that it makes sense."
