White Hydrogen is the Future – Part 2
(Feat. Bill Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Startup Venture Capital, Dream Clean Energy, Oil, Gas, SMR Portfolio Investment, and Mitsubishi Japan)
Continued from Part 1.
58. Interest in hydrogen surged in 2023, but some early investors had already begun making moves quietly after Hydroma’s publication in the Journal of Hydrogen Energy back in 2018.
59. One of these early investors was Bill Gates.
60. Gates’ Breakthrough Energy invested $91 million into Koloma, a U.S.-based hydrogen exploration company, to kick-start natural hydrogen exploration.
61. When it comes to underground resource mapping, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is widely regarded as a global authority.
62. In October 2022, the USGS presented findings at the annual American Geophysical Union conference, unveiling a model estimating tens of billions of tons of hydrogen within Earth’s crust.
63. They further noted that hundreds of millions of tons of natural hydrogen are likely generated each year.
64. This implies that, unlike finite resources like oil or natural gas, hydrogen is continuously forming within the Earth.
65. The USGS developed this model by reanalyzing exploration records from major oil companies.
66. Hydrogen isn’t typically found in regions abundant in oil or gas reserves.
67. Organic material in the earth combines with hydrogen, forming hydrocarbons like oil and natural gas. This process depletes hydrogen in oil fields.
68. To explore this further, the USGS re-examined data from boreholes that had failed to yield oil.
69. The findings revealed that hydrogen was more frequently present in these non-productive boreholes than previously thought.
70. Natural hydrogen mainly forms in the Earth’s mantle and is often detected following volcanic activity.
71. When iron-rich minerals in the mantle react with water under high temperature and pressure, oxygen binds to the iron (oxidizing it) and releases hydrogen.
72. Being lighter than air, hydrogen often escapes when produced.
73. However, certain geological formations with a “cap rock” that prevents hydrogen from escaping are ideal for hydrogen deposits.
74. It takes millions of years for organic matter to transform into oil or natural gas.
75. This means that, once used up, oil and gas resources take millions of years to regenerate.
76. Hydrogen is different.
77. Hydrogen forms through the reaction of groundwater with iron-rich minerals in the mantle at high temperature and pressure, meaning that new hydrogen is being generated continuously.
78. Since 2011, 30 boreholes in Mali, Africa have been producing hydrogen continuously.
79. Thirteen years later, these boreholes are each still yielding around 5 tons of hydrogen annually, enough to generate 30 kW of electricity per borehole.
80. The USGS estimates that 500 million tons of hydrogen could be sustainably sourced each year.
81. At 500 million tons annually, this is more than five times the global hydrogen demand in 2022, which was approximately 94 million tons.
82. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global hydrogen demand could increase to 610 million tons by 2050.
83. With an estimated 500 million tons available annually, natural hydrogen could fulfill much of the world’s projected future hydrogen needs.
84. The model predictions by the USGS in October 2022 were later confirmed by real-world discoveries in France.
85. Hydrogen has also been found in Australia, with deposits of 80% pure hydrogen at a depth of 500 meters.
86. The U.S. has already started exploratory drilling for hydrogen, led by Koloma, the company in which Bill Gates invested.
87. Following Gates’ $91 million investment, Koloma has attracted further backers.
88. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has joined as an investor, and companies like United Airlines have committed $350 million toward hydrogen exploration.
89. In October 2024, Mitsubishi Corporation from Japan also joined the funding effort, expanding the investment pool further.
90. Japanese conglomerates, sometimes described as “from ramen to robots,” are known for investing in all profitable industries.
91. However, each conglomerate has its own area of focus.
92. In hydrogen, Mitsubishi Corporation is fully committed.
93. Mitsubishi announced a plan to invest 2 trillion yen (about $13.5 billion) in hydrogen, ammonia, and other clean energy projects by 2030.
94. In April 2023, Mitsubishi set up a Next-Gen Energy Task Force (TF) to unify clean energy projects directly under the CEO’s office.
95. By April 2024, it had merged its natural gas group into the Next-Gen Energy TF, establishing a Global Environment and Energy Group to consolidate its clean energy initiatives.
96. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set a target to reduce the cost of hydrogen production to $1 per kilogram by 2030.
97. Currently, green hydrogen produced from solar or wind power is estimated at around $6 per kilogram, making the $1 target challenging.
98. However, white hydrogen shows potential for production costs as low as $1 per kilogram.
99. While this technology is still in its early stages, these cost projections are driving a wave of investment into white hydrogen.
100. As global interest in White Hydrogen grows, it’s emerging as a promising clean energy resource poised to reshape the energy landscape.
Alphazen Insights
Keeping tabs on emerging energy sources like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) is key. Sure, most of these projects might end up as “nice tries,” but it only takes one or two big wins to rewrite the future. White hydrogen? We know it’s out there. Now, the real challenge is figuring out if we can pull it from the ground without blowing the budget.
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