Natural hydrogen (also known as 'white' hydrogen) is a newly discovered geological source of sustainable and non-fossil energy. It is generated by a natural geochemical process deep inside the Earth's crust, making it a sustainable and inexhaustible source.
Every few years a disruptive technology comes out of left field and entirely changes the future of the global energy system. For example, it happened with shale fracking around 2009-2011, confounding OPEC. Electric cars dealt a seismic shock to fossil-fuel guzzling legacy automakers.
Experts believe that there is a very real possibility that the vast reserves of natural hydrogen that lie under our feet and can plausibly be extracted at costs that blow away the competition, and the critical breakthrough will probably happen somewhere within a year or two.
The US Geological Survey concluded in April that there is probably enough accessible hydrogen in the earth’s subsurface to meet total global demand for “hundreds of years”. The US Energy Department is drawing up plans to help kick start the industry, deeming the potential “astronomical”.
Viacheslav Zgonnik, a Ukrainian geologist, thinks white geologic hydrogen could be so cheap and abundant that it conquers the energy market.
The next net zero billionaires might well be gas explorers drilling holes in the ground. The surprises never cease.