Posted on 05/18/2026 8:48:58 PM PDT by Red Badger
In the dark tunnels of an active mine near Timmins, Ontario, something extraordinary is leaking out of the Earth.
Long-term measurement provided evidence of sustained accumulation and discharge of natural hydrogen generated within Earth’s crust. Barbara Sherwood Lollar In the dark tunnels of an active mine near Timmins, Ontario, something extraordinary is leaking out of the Earth. It isn’t toxic gas, but pure energy.
For the first time, geochemists have captured and measured sustained bursts of “white hydrogen” emanating directly from billion-year-old rock formations.
The discovery was led by researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa. It could help towards the global clean energy transition.
Researchers discovered that the site’s 15,000 boreholes could naturally discharge over 140 tonnes of hydrogen annually — enough to sustain the yearly energy needs of more than 400 households.
“Such discharges could provide 4.7 million kilowatts of energy per year from a single location – enough to support the annual energy needs of over 400 households,” the researchers noted.
Gas exsolving from groundwater. Credit: Barbara Sherwood Lollar
Natural hydrogen
The world already runs on a $135-billion hydrogen economy. The gas is used to forge steel, create methanol, and produce the massive quantities of fertilizer needed to feed the global population.
But here is a thing. Nearly all industrial hydrogen is currently produced by stripping it from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, a process that emits devastating amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Even “green hydrogen,” made by splitting water using renewable energy, requires massive amounts of electricity, complex infrastructure, and expensive long-distance transport.
White hydrogen could solve this, as it is manufactured by the planet itself.
“The data from this study suggests there are critical untapped opportunities to access a domestic source of cost-effective energy produced from the rocks beneath our feet,” said University Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar in the Department of Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto.
“What’s more, this provides a ‘made in Canada’ resource that might be able to support local and regional industry hubs and reduce their dependence on importing hydrocarbon-based fuels,” the lead author added.
Scientists monitored individual boreholes drilled deep into the Canadian Shield.
And discovered that a single hole discharges an average of eight kilograms of hydrogen per year. Notably, it weighs roughly as much as a standard car battery. It doesn’t stop. The gas keeps flowing steadily for a decade or more.
“Natural hydrogen is produced over time through underground chemical reactions between rocks and the groundwaters in those rocks,” said Sherwood Lollar.
Canada’s unique location
The geological jackpot of white hydrogen is that it forms through ancient chemical reactions between water and specific minerals.
In Canada, those minerals sit in the same rock formations where miners already dig for copper, nickel, and diamonds, or explore for critical green transition metals like lithium and cobalt.
In short, the energy is already exactly where the heavy industry needs it.
Instead of building multi-billion-dollar pipelines to move hydrogen across the country, mining companies could theoretically tap the rock beneath their own boots to power their operations.
This study provides the first concrete, measured data of large volumes of natural hydrogen discharging consistently over multiple years.
It demonstrates that Canada can leverage its unique geology, particularly in existing mining regions such as Northern Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories.
“Canada is blessed that vast amounts of its territories, especially on the Canadian Shield, contain the right rocks and minerals to create this natural hydrogen,” Lollar added.
It could provide a cheaper, cleaner alternative to hydrocarbon-based industrial hydrogen.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on May 18.
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“...White hydrogen...”
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That’s racist!
Abiotic oil theory, anyone?
CC
Me! ME ! ME!..............
8kg per year does not cover the drilling energy to reach it let alone the energy invested in the steel well bore , well production casings and also the concrete grout to seat the bore. It’s EROI is deeply negative.
You would need thousands of KG per year from that well bore to justify its energy cost to drill it.
Now if you are using this well bore to dewater a mine then the H2 is just a byproduct of existing ops sure why not recover it.
This is Serpentinization a geological process where water reacts with iron-bearing minerals in ultramafic rocks (like olivine) to form serpentinite, releasing molecular hydrogen gas. The shield is very old basatic rock full of olivine.
There is a huge failed rift arm down the center of the USA the Mississippi River flows down the depression it created deep under it is the flood basalts also loaded with olivine there should be trillions of tonnes of released H2 question is was there gas traps above it like impervious shales to trap it before it drifted into space from the surface leaks.
No not at all.
Serpentinization is a geological process where water reacts with iron-bearing minerals in ultramafic rocks (like olivine) to form serpentinite, releasing molecular hydrogen gas.
It’s a thermal chemical reaction of ground water and Fe rich minerals the Fe+ has more draw than the O+ ion so it oxidized the Fe setting free the H2 atoms while keeping the O+
This is Petrology 1301 level stuff we teach it to undergrads.
https://newatlas.com/energy/geologic-hydrogen-gold-rush/
5 trillion tonnes potentially. Again the Canadian shield, any flood basalts, rift valleys, failed rift arms too as every rift system starts are the triple junction and one fails the other two propagate. Mid.Ocean ridges and volcanic hot spots like Iceland and Hawaii and Yellowstone all are loaded with Basalts and thus olivine and potential for this.type of geochemistry reaction. It comes down to water supply and post formation gas traps up dip otherwise the gas just moves upwards and is eaten by microbes or hits air or water and escapes to space eventually
My house sits on top of a blue basalt ridge in the far Western Cascade Mts. A gold mine, errr, hydrogen mine!
If the basalt is at ground level it’s above the geopressure zone where the reaction can take place it needs heat , pressure and water all in the right place at the right time and under a gas cap seal. It’s a tall order.
“white” hydrogen.
What other shades are there?
Yawn.
Ok, but I don’t think the abiotic theory is nearly disproven as the “experts” say it is.
CC
It comes up every few GSA or SEG meetings and gets absolutely trashed by the geochemistry community.
Every single liquid hydrocarbon system ever tested via geochem has come back not only with isotopic ratios clearly showing contact and deposition from the biosphere there are core samples in the shale source rocks where you can see micro fossils and macro fossils in the sections.
There simply is no mechanism to take geological hydrogen and get CH2+CH2 polymerization. Needed to get past even the first CH4 formation, at the pressures and temps of the mantle you get solid C and at best H2 gas which rapidly will bond with some other proton acceptor.
Abiotic oil is a crutch for people who don’t want to accept what the entire industry , world leaders, financial services industry accepts total hydrocarbon systems are limited. If there would be trillions in backing for endless oil it’s simply not. Yes there is petrogenesis taking place right now all over the planet it’s a rates that are to slow to be relevant to human time scales, it geological time whatever species replaces us millions of years from now will inherit the hydrocarbons being made today.
Truth is humans have burnt out well over 200 million year worth of fossil sunshine in just under 2 centuries. Clearly that cannot continue. Every industry pro the ones who the financial guys listen too has shown again and again the biosphere source of liquid hydrocarbons.
You can believe what you want but it won’t change the industry planning, exploitation, finance and project management.
Key tell is all the energy companies are pivoting to just that energy companies not oil companies the financial guys know the end is coming and they need long term plans to keep market share and profits. Exxon doesn’t care if they sell you a gallon of fossil sunshine, a gallon of synthetic fuel from CO2 and electrons or a kg of H2 or 34.4 kWh of electron they just care it’s them doing the selling. Simple as that.
I will eat my $1200 boots if in my lifetime someone gets a peer reviewed proof of abiotic oil and then gets it funded to production. The chances of that are virtually zero given the hundreds no millions of geochem samples from all over the world’s basins every one of them showing biological processes and deposition into sediments not deep mantle carbon. The isotopes are clear on this specifically the carbon and oxygen isotopes. Cosmic rays are needed for some of them and deep rocks never see any cosmic rays only surface and atmospheric contact see those rays.
Like I said I will destroy $1200 boots , they will be fine as it’s a myth with zero repeatable , peer reviewed proof. You would think petrologists would be all over trying to prove it given it would mean wealth beyond any of their dreams to have unlimited money wells sadly all wells follow a type curve and die off following that curve. Any “refill” is still produced oil moving up dip it’s geochem signature shows shale and or kerogen based source rocks.
I concede defeat to somebody much more informed than me.
Regards,
CC
Hydrogen is even a BIGGER FRAUD than EV’s are...it simply costs 10 to 100 times as much to handle, due to pressure and the tiny, tiny, molecules that leak out of just about anything you use to contain it.
“pure energy” <- this shows you whoever wrote this article is NOT a scientist!
What a load of claptrap!
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between objects or transformed from one type to another (e.g., potential energy to kinetic energy). If it sounds similar to gravity, that’s because it is. Saying you found pure energy is like saying you have a bucket of gravity....
Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue...............
When I was a young teen, I used to make Hydrogen by mixing lye in water and dropping in a piece of Aluminum foil - made the gas but also generated a lot of heat....did get some nice big orange “WHOOOOMPHs” by filling balloons and then adding a bit of ignition. First time was in the closed garage...had a balloon about 14” across tied to a string, lit a wad of paper on the floor and swung the balloon down to it. Surprised me as the orange fireball actually expanded about 3 feet and went around my legs - but it was so brief that nothing got scorched. But the “WHOOOMPH” shook the garage and my Mom opened the kitchen door that led to the garage with eyes big as saucers because she thought I blew myself and the garage up. Good times.
Good times, good times.............🙄
.
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