Natural Hydrogen in Need of Investors and Domestic Producers
Hydrogen is abundant all over the earth, but in order for it to be useful, it must be separated from other compounds. Mostly used to fuel automobiles, it combines with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electrical energy. There are many exciting prospects for hydrogen energy, but more research is needed into better ways to extract it and decrease the costs associated with its production.
Hydrogen gas is invisible, tasteless, odorless, and best of all, it is non-toxic. Up until 2009, it was not even realized that hydrogen was being produced naturally in many places around the world.
Since it vents and then dissipates over large areas it was not thought to be useful, although flames attributed to hydrogen vents have been known to exist for millennia. One such flame was thought to be the basis of the original Olympic flame!
Can hydrogen meet our energy needs?
In the last decade, a group was formed of world-renowned engineers, geologists, and chemists to study the phenomenon. Called Natural Hydrogen Energy Ltd, they set out to locate hydrogen vents. Many were discovered in the United States, with some sources producing voluminous amounts of the stuff on a daily basis. Some of these locations include the Atlantic coast, but there seems to be a multitude of locations that look promising.
Hydrogen: gas of many uses
While the primary use for hydrogen gas is to fuel our vehicles, there are also industrial and agricultural applications like fertilizer. However, to make it viable there needs to be sustainable methods developed to produce it.
Currently, the process uses a great deal of natural gas, which results in the production of CO2 – which is not ideal. Additionally, it uses a lot of natural gas to produce, amounting to five percent of our domestic supply. Even though the fuel itself has great potential, until we engineer a better, cleaner, less expensive way to produce it, we may not be able to access all of its benefits.
Benefits of hydrogen fuel
Hydrogen isn’t a fossil fuel. It produces no CO2 when burned and is non-toxic to people, animals, and the earth. It is completely sustainable and if we can discover a better way to produce it, it may help us reduce the world’s carbon output.
After identifying some promising sites with high hydrogen emissions, NH2E is planning to drill into these sites and is expecting to extract good quantities of the gas, much like a well.
To advance their cause, NH2E is in search of companies or investors who are interested in joining them in developing an entirely new market around hydrogen gas production. They already have obtained permits to drill.
Speaking for NH2E, Charles Odendhal surmises that there must be countless active hydrogen vents all over the world. As such, with the proper processing techniques in place, we stand to be able to reduce or eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels completely.
If the Olympic flame is any indication, this could be an industry that will serve us for the next millennia and onwards.
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