What geological hydrogen is, how it forms, and why it matters.
Geological hydrogen (natural hydrogen) is hydrogen gas generated within the Earth.
Geological hydrogen system
When water reacts with iron-rich rock deep in the crust, a reaction known as serpentinization can release hydrogen gas. Serpentinization is a natural chemical reaction between water and certain iron-bearing rocks, and it runs continuously over geological time. Where fault systems, fractures in the Earth’s crust, channel that gas upward into sealed rock formations called traps, the hydrogen can accumulate much the way conventional natural gas does. Drill the trap, produce the gas. When the hydrogen is used, the primary emission is water.
Once viewed mainly as a deep-ocean phenomenon, geological hydrogen generation is now increasingly recognised in land-based geological systems worldwide.
Drill the trap, produce the gas. When the hydrogen is used, the primary emission is water.
Independent literature estimates place geological hydrogen at a materially lower potential production cost than grey hydrogen (made from natural gas, roughly US$1 to US$2 per kg) or green hydrogen (made by splitting water with electricity, roughly US$3 to US$8 per kg), at potentially under US$1 per kg.
Geological hydrogen remains an emerging resource, not a proven commercial industry. Outside one long-running site in Mali, it has not been produced commercially at scale. That is both the promise and the early-stage risk.
Helium is often found alongside geological hydrogen. Luma intends to test for both hydrogen and helium on its Atlantic Canada projects.
Geological hydrogen research is led by government and academic institutions, including the United States Geological Survey and Stanford University’s geological hydrogen research program. Dr. Allegra Hosford Scheirer Ph.D. is Luma’s technical consultant and a recognised authority from that field; her background is described on the Leadership page.