White hydrogen has recently been discovered in an area called Lorraine in northeastern France. CNN revealed that the area was discovered by the directors of research at France’s National Centre of Scientific Research, Jacques Pironon and Phillipe De Donato.
The duo found a 20% higher concentration of hydrogen at 1,250 meters below the ground. Jacques hinted that there could be a huge reserve of hydrogen and one of the biggest deposits ever in the aforementioned place.
Lorraine has been in the spotlight since July this year after researchers found a potential natural hydrogen deposit in the area. Philippe shared a statement at the time:
“Our data indicates that the ground under the Lorraine mining basin is very rich in white hydrogen. If confirmed, this discovery could be a big step forward in the transition towards clean, climate-friendly energy sources,” he said.
Jacques also addressed the meaning behind the word white hydrogen. He said that it has been named ‘white’ since the “production doesn’t generate greenhouse gases.”
“Unlike ‘black’ and ‘grey’ hydrogen, which are manufactured by processing coal and natural gas respectively – in other words, fossil fuels that generate large amounts of GHGs – white hydrogen is directly available,” he added.
Jacques said that the gas is “more ecological” compared to green hydrogen. He added that the hydrogen deposit was found “by chance” when geologists were searching for methane at Lorraine.
White hydrogen can help in clean energy development
Energy Advice Hub states that white hydrogen is a form of hydrogen that emerges from the Earth’s crust via water-rock reactions. In this process, the water molecules and iron-rich minerals get in touch with each other at a high temperature, releasing the hydrogen gas.
Other forms of the gas like green hydrogen and gray hydrogen are produced in the lab through electrolysis, as per Business Insider.
The gas will reportedly prove to be useful because it is a renewable energy source and it does not hurt the environment. CNN states that the price of this gas will be cheaper and it can be a replacement for conventional fuels.
Energy Advice Hub reported that the gas was initially found in 1987 at a village called Bourakebougou in Mali. The discovery happened after a water well blew up while a driller was smoking a cigarette near it. The well was not used by anyone after that but an oil and gas company reportedly discovered in 2011 that the well was emitting hydrogen.
US Geological Survey geochemist Geoffrey Ellis claimed that there is natural hydrogen in different places around the world. Speaking to CNN, Ellis said:
“Most of this is almost certainly going to be in very small accumulations or very far offshore, or just too deep to actually be economic to produce.”
CNN reported that white hydrogen deposits have been discovered in places like Russia, Oman, France, Mali, and others. A few companies have already made their business plans but development of the resource might take around 200 years, as claimed by Ellis.
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