Natural White Hydrogen Seen by Scientists as Possible Energy Game Changer

(MENAFN) For many years, government officials and business leaders have promoted hydrogen as a possible solution for cutting carbon emissions. The fuel can produce the intense heat required for sectors such as shipping and heavy industries like steel manufacturing while avoiding the planet-warming emissions linked to fossil fuels including oil, gas, and coal.

Energy projections cited in reports suggest that global demand for hydrogen could grow significantly and may even triple by 2050. Despite this potential, a major challenge remains: most hydrogen used today is produced with the help of fossil fuels. At the same time, less than 1% of global hydrogen output currently comes from renewable energy through electrolysis, a method that remains costly and difficult to expand, according to reports.

Scientists say another possibility may exist in the form of naturally occurring hydrogen. Often referred to as white hydrogen or natural hydrogen, this resource is believed to have been created billions of years ago through geological processes taking place deep within the Earth’s crust.

Researchers explain that these reactions involve iron-rich rocks and water interacting under high temperatures.

"Much of the Earth's mantle is iron-rich rock," Jurgen Grotsch was quoted as saying.

"When it meets with water at temperatures of 200 to 350 degrees Celsius, the iron basically takes the oxygen from the water, leaving behind pure hydrogen."

According to scientific estimates cited in reports, massive quantities of hydrogen could be stored beneath the Earth’s surface. Studies conducted by researchers at the United States Geological Survey indicate that roughly 5.6 trillion tons of hydrogen may be trapped inside the planet’s crust.

Although a large share of these deposits is located too deep to be realistically extracted, a study released in 2024 suggested that accessing just 2% of the natural reserves could meet worldwide hydrogen needs for around 200 years.

Hydrogen, the lightest element, can travel upward from the mantle through cracks and openings in the Earth’s crust. Sometimes it escapes into the atmosphere, but in many cases it becomes trapped underground. Scientists say the gas often collects within porous rock formations such as sandstone, where heavier layers of solid rock above act as a seal, forming underground reservoirs.

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