To boost carbon-free energy production in the U.S., the Energy Department is providing $20 million in funding to discover more efficient methods of extracting and stimulating the production of underground hydrogen.
Underground hydrogen is a clean, renewable resource that is produced when water under the Earth’s surface reacts with iron minerals at elevated temperatures and pressures. According to researchers, these “water-rock reactions deep within the Earth continuously generate hydrogen, which percolates up through the crust and sometimes accumulates in underground traps.”
Underground hydrogen is becoming the topic of many conversations not only because of its potential to become the most cost-effective fuel but also because the extraction method utilizes standard drilling techniques used throughout the oil and gas industry.
The funding program, which supports the Biden Administration’s goals of boosting carbon-free energy production in the U.S., offers advantages to emerging companies such as Koloma, which has received public support from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Koloma and others are already conducting test drilling operations throughout the Midwest region.
