Hunting for geologic hydrogen

Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Hydrogen has two big problems: cost and supply. As a low-carbon feedstock, it could decarbonize planes, industry, and power plants. It could even replace the oil in plastics and chemicals.

But the leading contenders for low-carbon hydrogen production — like using zero-carbon power for electrolysis and methane pyrolysis — just haven’t cut it yet. So far, the price points are too high and the scale of production is too low to spur a hydrogen revolution.

But instead of synthesizing hydrogen, what if we pumped naturally-occurring hydrogen reservoirs out of the ground, just like we drill for oil and natural gas?

In this episode, Shayle talks about geologic hydrogen with Pete Johnson, CEO of Koloma. Early estimates suggest vast quantities of the gas could be tapped for far cheaper than other production methods. That is, if some major challenges are solved, like finding economically viable reserves, managing leakage, and building infrastructure. In these early days, those are all big ifs.

A handful of startups are exploring geologic hydrogen, and Koloma, which has raised $300 million, is the most prominent in the space. (Shayle invests in Koloma and serves on its board. Prelude Ventures, which led Latitude Media’s fundraising round, also invests in Koloma.) Shayle and Pete cover topics like:

• The key factors that lead to reservoirs of geologic hydrogen, like water, iron-rich rock, traps, and seals
• Why geologic hydrogen could become the cheapest form of hydrogen, if found in large, economically viable reservoirs
• The greenhouse gas impact of hydrogen, which interferes with the breakdown of methane in the atmosphere
• Why Pete thinks that economically viable wells will attract new infrastructure, like clean ammonia plants, the way Houston attracted oil infrastructure
• Stimulating geologic hydrogen production by injecting water into rock
• What sort of watershed moment would prove the viability of geologic hydrogen

Recommended resources

Latitude Media: Should we be paying more attention to geologic hydrogen?

US Geological Survey: The Potential for Geologic Hydrogen for Next Generation Energy

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