Hydrogen treasures. Professor Jacques Pironon stumbled upon a surprise while looking for methane in northeast France earlier this year.

Oh, the joy of stumbling upon hydrogen while searching for methane! Professor Jacques Pironon and his team were on a quest for methane in the Lorraine Basin when, surprise surprise, they found a massive deposit of hydrogen 3,000 meters underground. Serendipity, they call it. Because, you know, finding hydrogen is just another day’s work for a methane hunter.

Now, normally, finding hydrogen might be a snooze-fest for academics, but hold on! Hydrogen is the talk of the town these days. It’s supposedly the golden ticket to achieving a net-zero global economy. Why? Because it doesn’t belch out CO2 when used as fuel or in industrial processes. But, oh dear, here comes the catch – producing hydrogen in a green way is as rare as finding a unicorn in your backyard.

We have a rainbow of hydrogen options – grey, blue, black, and the elusive green. Grey and blue involve splitting methane and capturing CO2, while black hydrogen enjoys a partial burning of coal. Green, the eco-friendly superhero, is produced through water electrolysis. But alas, it’s expensive and scarce, like a rare gem you can’t quite afford.

Enter the hero of our story – natural hydrogen! Found in the depths of the Earth through the magical interaction of groundwater and iron-rich minerals. It’s like nature’s little surprise party. The French discovery isn’t the first – we’ve got a small well in Mali, and whispers of large deposits in the US, Australia, Russia, and Europe. But hold your horses; France claims the biggest jackpot ever – 250 million tonnes, enough to satisfy the world’s hydrogen cravings for over two years.

Sure, there might be more undiscovered hydrogen treasures lying around the globe, but don’t get too excited. The US Geological Survey estimates billions of megatonnes, but, you know, most of it is probably too deep, too far offshore, or too tiny to bother with. But hey, there’s hope! A mere 100,000 megatonnes might be accessible, representing hundreds of years of supply. Easy peasy.

Now, while the big players in the energy game are watching from the sidelines, a few brave souls are venturing into the wild world of hydrogen exploration. Bill Gates’s investment firm is tossing $91 million into a US start-up, and prospecting firms are eyeing Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, and Togo. Oh, and let’s not forget the excitement Down Under, where South Australia has welcomed hydrogen into its list of regulated substances. Exploration, anyone?

But wait, why aren’t the oil giants rushing in? Well, it’s risky, you see. They prefer letting the startups take the plunge. The market for hydrogen in the US is a bit meh, so the incentive for exploration isn’t exactly sky-high. It’s a classic case of the chicken and the egg – no market until there’s supply, and no supply until there’s a market. A conundrum indeed.

But fear not! If we decide we need to figure this out quickly, we’ll make it happen. It’s just a matter of effort. So, here’s to the hydrogen hunters and the serendipitous surprises waiting beneath the Earth’s surface. May your hydrogen dreams be as boundless as the depths you explore!