According to scientists, mountains such as pyrenees, Alps and parts of Himalayas can be a hydrogen reservoir capable of providing us with an inexhaustible source of energy.
According to, a team of investigators claims to have found huge hidden hydrogen reserves in mountains like the Alps and the Pyrenees.
The key is in the movement of the tectonic plateswhich causes the emergence of these mountainous systems and generates a chemical reaction that naturally produces this Precious gas.
Hydrogen is one of great promises to relieve the energy crisis and help us reduce greenhouse gas emissionsbut produce it artificially generates harmful emissions for our planet.
In recent years, geologists are finding natural hydrogen reserves worldwide, in underground deposits that estimate 5.5 Trilions of tons.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Helmholtz Center of Geosciences GFZ, Germany, suggests that it also There may be huge mountains reservations.
“Globally, we can be in a turning point for the exploration of natural hydrogen“ Frank Zwaanmain author of the study in Science Advances.
“We could therefore be watching the birth of a new natural hydrogen industry ”.
Earth is able to create hydrogen naturally in many ways. Bacteria that transform organic materials or the impact of radioactivity on the earth’s crust are capable of producing it.
But the movement of tectonic plates, under very specific conditions, can also produce hydrogen.
Researchers studied these conditions in slit reversal orogenies, regions where the movement of old fractures in the earth’s crust provides the ideal conditions for a process called serpentizationwhich is what generates hydrogen naturally.
The minerals of these rocks suffer chemical reactions in contact with water, forming new minerals that release hydrogen in the process.
What makes the Special slit reversal orogens It is the fact that they have very low temperatures than along with greater water circulation, they favor greater production and hydrogen accumulation.
Researchers believe that when these rocks are close to the earth’s surface, can create significant hydrogen reservoirscapable of producing large -scale hydrogen.
According to researchers, hydrogen production in these mountainous systems can be up to 20 times higher to other geological zones.
These rocks reach the surface by two main mechanisms: a disaggregation of the continentswhich allows the rise of the cloak, and the mountain formationthat pushes the rocks from the cloak to the surface.
Researchers believe that there are several zones in the world that correspond to these characteristics, such as the Western range of Alps-Himalaia and bay of Mauléon, our Pyrenees.
“Given the economic opportunities associated with natural hydrogen, it has been time to go further and also investigate hydrogen migration roads and microbial ecosystems consume in depth hydrogen to better understand where potential H2 reservoirs can be formed,” he says, he says Sascha Bruneteacher and head of the GFZ geodynamic modeling section and another of the study authors.
Hydrogen is umore interesting fuels to combat CO2 emissions. It will feed the aircraft, trains and cars of the future, but not all forms of hydrogen extraction are equally clean and economic, which is why it is important to pay attention to the name they have.
Among the types of hydrogen produced, the most common is the gray hydrogenwhich is extracted with natural gas and which, according to the investigators, This is what makes more CO2.
O brown hydrogen It is extracted with lenhitea brown charcoal, while the black hydrogen It is extracted with coala darker coal.
Both brown and black hydrogen emit significant amounts of CO2 in its production process.
There is also the blue hydrogenone of the most often pointed out as a Solution in the struggle to find sustainable fuels.
This type of hydrogen is extracted using the same methods as the previous ones, but in this case CO2 is captured and stored underground. Although CO2 storage has a cost, the final price is relatively cheap.
Beyond geological hydrogenthe other hydrogen that does not generate emissions in its production is the green hydrogen. To produce green hydrogen, renewable energy is used that does not generate any emissions harmful to the environment.
Currently, there are many methods to obtain it, using electrolyzers New generation that are cheaper and more efficient.
Explore hydrogen that is naturally on our planet, known as geological hydrogen or can be the clearest and cheapest form of obtaining it.
Companies only just look for gold hydrogen, but Financial Times states that Opportunities are huge and are already attracting significant investments.
Teresa Oliveira Campos, Zap //
