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Geologic hydrogen has emerged as a potentially transformational energy resource in the quest to transition to net-zero emission energy supplies. If realized, this new form of energy resource could circumvent the insurmountable challenge of finding and producing enough metals and critical minerals to meet the demands of clean energy by year 2025. The technical challenge to finding geologic hydrogen requires the reconfiguration and recombination of two major branches of exploration geophysics, namely, the mineral exploration and oil and gas exploration and, therefore, could provide unprecedented opportunities for the exploration geophysicists from both energy section and mineral sectors and the Society of Exploration Geophysicist in general. In this presentation, we briefly review geologic hydrogen as an energy resource and the need for integrated exploration strategies to find it, and discuss the role of hard rock mineral exploration geophysics in a source rock-center strategy for geologic hydrogen exploration. The latter could provide exploration geophysicists a new cycle of opportunities and new space of applying our expertise, albeit in reconfigured and recombined modes.
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The role of geophysics in geologic hydrogen resources
Abstract Transition to cleaner energy sources is crucial for reducing carbon emissions to zero. Among these new clean energy types, there is a growing awareness of the potential for naturally occurring geologic hydrogen (H2) as a primary energy resource that can be readily introduced into the existing energy supply. It is anticipated that geophysics will play a critical role in such endeavors. There are two major different types of geologic H2. One is natural H2 (referred to as gold H2), which is primarily accumulating naturally in reservoirs in certain geological setting; and the other is stimulated H2 (referred to as orange H2), which is produced artificially from source rocks through chemical and physical stimulations. We will first introduce geophysics in geologic H2 in comparison and contrast to the scenarios of blue and green H2. We will then discuss the significance of geophysics in both natural H2 and stimulated H2 in term of both exploration and monitoring tools. Comparing and contrasting the current geophysical tools in hydrocarbon exploration and production, we envision the innovative geophysical technologies and strategies for geologic H2 resources based on our current understanding of both natural and stimulated geologic hydrogen systems. The strategies for H2 exploration will involve a shift from reservoir- to source rock-centered approaches. Last, we believe that the geophysical methods including integration of multi-geophysics, efficient data acquisition, and machine learning in geologic H2 could be potentially provide sufficient new directions and significant opportunities to pursue research for the next one or two decades.
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- PAR ID:
- 10592400
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford Academic
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysics and Engineering
- Volume:
- 21
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1742-2132
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1242 to 1253
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jge/gxae056
