French drillers may have stumbled upon a mammoth hydrogen deposit

A drill site in Lorraine shows rising levels of hydrogen mixed in with methane.

See full article...

 

[notthatkindofdoctor]

So their probe is a gas-permeable membrane... how confident are they that they really understand its transport (and surface chemistry) properties at elevated temperatures and pressures?

IOW, what are the odds that this is real and not an instrument artifact?

 

[Elon Muskie Admirer]

With hydrogen tipped to be the fuel of the future because of its promise of net-zero emissions, the discovery of vast quantities of what’s termed “white hydrogen” could prove to be a shot in the arm for the transition to clean energy.

So, are people are excited due to it's possible relevance to future cars on zero emissions or is there other uses for this Hydrogen ?

 

[zaco]

So their probe is a gas-permeable membrane... how confident are they that they really understand its transport (and surface chemistry) properties at elevated temperatures and pressures?

IOW, what are the odds that this is real and not an instrument artifact?

https://doi.org/10.2516/stet/2023017
Here is a recent publication from Pironon on the methods and validation processes they are using. Though it is focused on other gases it does show some of the capabilities of their methods.

 

[Martin Blank]

So, are people are excited due to it's possible relevance to future cars on zero emissions or is there other uses for this Hydrogen ?

This is mostly an "other uses" thing. While 46 million tons of hydrogen in a single deposit is notable, existing global production of pure hydrogen is around 75 million tons.

 

[UweHalfHand]

“With hydrogen tipped to be the fuel of the future because of its promise of net-zero emissions, the discovery of vast quantities of what’s termed ‘white hydrogen’ could prove to be a shot in the arm for the transition to clean energy.”

Oh really? The rest of the article looks like interesting science, this seems rather bogus.

 

[Chaster Mief]

Don't release it! It's the only thing keeping Earth floating in the aether!

 

[Elon Muskie Admirer]

This is mostly an "other uses" thing. While 46 million tons of hydrogen in a single deposit is notable, existing global production of pure hydrogen is around 75 million tons.

Double thanks for the added context of global production.

 

[Edgar Allan Esquire]

Since the world's supply of Helium is in question, this is good news for the party-balloon industry. I look forward to children's birthday parties opening with "Whole Lotta Love" as the balloons and grill-lighters get passed out.

For some reason the first thought that popped into my head was when people were accidentally creating a make-shift napalm with Silly String and birthday candles. I don't think people will handle invisible fire very well.

 

[theotherjim]

So what are we going to do with all this new found hydrogen, Ars?

Turn it back into water, one way or the other.

 

[dlux]

For some reason the first thought that popped into my head was when people were accidentally creating a make-shift napalm with Silly String and birthday candles.

Aw damn, now I gotta try that.

 

[AmorImpermissus]

Great! Next find a feasible way to economically store and transport it!

 

[lurknomore]

If the hydrogen is a natural result of water reaction with the rock, how quick of a process is that ?
Can you drill deep holes, cycle water in them, and extract hydrogen at a usable pace (for less energy than other methods), or does it take millions of years to get those concentrations ?

 

[ip_what]

So their probe is a gas-permeable membrane... how confident are they that they really understand its transport (and surface chemistry) properties at elevated temperatures and pressures?

IOW, what are the odds that this is real and not an instrument artifact?

Also, they’ve measures a 20% hydrogen, 80% methane gas mixture. They’re projecting that they’ll find 90% hydrogen. Given that they’ve essentially admitted that they don’t really understand the geology, even if the probe is working as expected, there’s little reason to expect that the hydrogen concentration will just continue to increase indefinitely.

This looks to be a very thin veneer of green energy being used to justify developing a traditional(ish) natural gas field. I’ll bet money that the goal they’re not announcing for that 3000 meter test bore is to understand how big the methane deposits are.

 

[JohnCarter17]

Sound like the Mazda Mirai is ahead of the curve. It runs on H, but where to get a refill?

Downvoted for misspelling Toyota

 

[MHStrawn]

This story could use some context IMO.

Is natural hydrogen rare? I have no idea; would be nice to understand how rare such finds are.

Also, what are uses of raw hyrdrogen? What industries or fields would be affected if a large find of raw hyrdrogen is confirmed?

Without such context, this article is largely academic; interesting, informative but without much impact.

 

[BananaWarrior]

is there other uses for this Hydrogen ?

You can think of Hydrogen like a battery. You can use it for energy.

 

[Rhyfelwyr]

Hydrogen has its own issues. Apart from its low energy density and hence the need to compress it to very high pressures in use? It is prone to leakage in distribution systems. Which in itself could have climate impacts, given that hydrogen has a significant short term GWP.

 

[chriskrum]

So, are people are excited due to it's possible relevance to future cars on zero emissions or is there other uses for this Hydrogen ?

There are people excited because it keeps the fossil fuel industry in business. It's a cleaner fuel with all the apparatus of extraction, production, and distribution, yay!

(and ignore the methane released and steam reformation needed)

 

[NameRedacted]

Are these mass percent or volume percent?

Because with Hydrogen/Methane mixtures, that’s a huge difference.

 

[sword_9mm]

So what are we going to do with all this new found hydrogen, Ars?

Bringing back the airships; the only civilized way to travel.

 

[qazwart]

This reminds me of a Rex the Runt episode where the crew goes to the North Pole to drill down to see what is in the center of the earth. It doesn’t end well:

For those who don’t know, Rex the Runt is a claymation made by Aardman Animations, the same people who did Wallace and Gromit.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rglyK1JHaZs&t=5m30s

 

[Bilateralrope]

This story could use some context IMO.

Is natural hydrogen rare? I have no idea; would be nice to understand how rare such finds are.

Also, what are uses of raw hyrdrogen? What industries or fields would be affected if a large find of raw hyrdrogen is confirmed?

Without such context, this article is largely academic; interesting, informative but without much impact.

My understanding is that we don't know how common hydrogen deposits are. Nobody has really been searching for them and this is only the second one that I've heard of.

 

[terrydactyl]

In my dyslexia, I first thought this was about a big a mammoth fossil deposit.

 

[DarkMatterDeveloper]

Since the world's supply of Helium is in question, this is good news for the party-balloon industry. I look forward to children's birthday parties opening with "Whole Lotta Love" as the balloons and grill-lighters get passed out.

Off by one error.

 

[Rick C.]

Bringing back the airships; the only civilized way to travel.

Only if it had an irritable attendant who had the tendency of throwing non-ticket holding passengers out of the window.

 

[lurknomore]

Only if it had an irritable attendant who had the tendency of throwing non-ticket holding passengers out of the window.

We're so glad they ended the trilogy on one of the greatest movies ever.

 

[arcite]

Hydrogen will be very important...


In space

 

[bobchadwick]

The site of the borehole where hydrogen deposits have been found.

Is that photo the actual site? I've only been to Paris in France, but that is not what imagine any place in France to look like.

 

[droidmonkey]

Hydrogen could be produced by the reaction between water and siderite, which is made of iron carbonates.

Why can't we do this same process, or figure out this process, at industrial scale?

 

[ShortOrder]

So what are we going to do with all this new found hydrogen, Ars?

Start at the top and work our way down.

 

[AusPeter]

So what are we going to do with all this new found hydrogen, Ars?

Cook quiches!

 

[rochefort]

This is mostly an "other uses" thing. While 46 million tons of hydrogen in a single deposit is notable, existing global production of pure hydrogen is around 75 million tons.

Plus hydrogen is a terrible fuel for transportation. It could be useful in industrial chemistry, steelmaking, and partly decarbonizing cement production, though.

 

[rochefort]

Bringing back the airships; the only civilized way to travel.

What's not civilized about a palanquin?

 

[herve661]

Double thanks for the added context of global production.

This global production comprises hydrogen which is not natural but produced by electrolysis, ie you need energy.
Here you have it "for free", but also, the article claims it could be renewable, because it is produced by oxydation and reduction on the order of a few months and Carbon-Iron reserves are quasi infinite in Lorraine.