Hydrogen burns cleanly to produce water, without releasing carbon dioxide as occurs when natural gas (typically methane) is burned. Until recently large reserves of naturally occurring hydrogen were not known to exist. However that is changing, and the discoveries could help us to provide zero carbon emissions fuel for heavy industrial processes and transport.
There is a lot of talk about “green’ hydrogen which is manufactured by using renewable energy to split water – but this is in its infancy and not yet occurring at sufficient scale. White hydrogen – also referred to as “natural,” “gold” or “geologic” hydrogen – is naturally produced or present in the Earth’s crust. Discovery of a large reserve in northern France supports the increasing excitement, building on previous discoveries of white hydrogen deposits found throughout the world in the US, eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, Oman, and Mali.
A good news story, the significance of which is further illustrated in the ARENA article also below.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/29/climate/white-hydrogen-fossil-fuels-climate/
