Important discovery for the planet’s energy transition. French technicians could find largest deposit white hydrogen of the world while searching for methane. White hydrogen is the natural version of this element, so Found naturally undergroundwithout being transformed by electrolysis, gas or other procedures. It is the most promising type of hydrogen for industry.
The discovery happened by chance and occurred in the Lorraine region, the team consisting of Jaques Pironon and Philippe de Donato from the University of Lorraine and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). was searching for methane underground for possible exploitation. That’s when they found something even more valuable: natural hydrogen at a density that could be the world’s largest deposit.
While 14 percent of hydrogen was reached at 1,100 meters underground, this rate had already reached 20 percent at 1,250 meters.
As Pironon and Donato explain on The Conversation, the amount of hydrogen in that tank would be truly extraordinary. Underground, 14 percent hydrogen was reached at 1,100 meters and 20 percent at 1,250 meters.This led experts to calculate that At 3,000 m the content can exceed 90%.
up to 46 million tons
According to estimates based on those found at a depth of 1,100 meters, experts believe that this deposit May contain up to 46 million tonnes of white hydrogen. In fact, both authors of the report openly mention “the world’s largest natural hydrogen deposit” and remind that, if their calculations are eventually confirmed: This area will be equivalent to more than half of annual gray hydrogen production (i.e. those derived from fossil fuels).
Two CNRS experts confirm that the path to extracting the valuable resource from this Lorraine deposit is irreversible. Before doing so, they need to verify that hydrogen is evenly distributed in a 490 square kilometer basin where they will deploy the SysMoG probe.
And not only that, but also They need to show that the hydrogen concentration continues to increase from 1,200 meters deep as they calculated.
We’ll have to drill it to check
However, carrying out these decisive checks will not be an easy task. “Unfortunately,” they say, “there are no boreholes in the Lorraine region that would allow sending a probe to this depth.” Drilling should be done up to 3,000 meters To show that the gas concentration increases as one goes deeper.
If this prediction comes true, “we will confirm the existence of an extraordinary natural hydrogen deposit larger than any that has been discovered and be able to make a realistic estimate of its scale.”
The discovery has already attracted attention business partners and institutionsBoth French and international are interested in financing the project. After the relevant administrative procedure is passed, those responsible hope to carry out the drilling, which they hope to start in the first quarter of 2024, through the REGALOR II program, which will last three or four years.
What is white hydrogen?
Hydrogen has more and more ‘colours’: grey, green, blue, white… The element itself is the same, but the treatment they receive is different in each case, with different effects on the environment and atmosphere. White hydrogen is natural or natural hydrogen, i.e. as it is found on Earth. Unlike the green or gray hydrogen we produce, it is not the result of conversion from gas or electrolysis.
Experts say that “anything can be used” and in fact it is considered the oil of the future.
While gray hydrogen uses fossil fuels for its conversion and use, green hydrogen requires renewable energy, white hydrogen requires neither. Experts say this “You can use this and that” and it is actually considered the oil of the future.
How is it produced? Underground iron minerals have the ability to separate oxygen in water molecules by absorbing it from hydrogen. There is no oxygen left in very deep geological layers. Therefore, the deeper you search, the more likely you are to find hydrogen.
The advantages are many, starting from the complete absence of CO2 emissions, but above all. low operating costcompared to gray or green.
It’s true that France wasn’t the only country where white hydrogen was discovered. There are also known reserves in the United States, Mali and Australia.. Currently, Mali is the only country in the world where a natural hydrogen deposit is exploited, approximately 60 km northwest of the capital Bamako, but its volume is not comparable to what is currently discovered. first guesses.
Reference article: https://theconversation.com/how-we-chanced-upon-what-may-be-the-worlds-largest-white-hydrogen-deposit-212499
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