CNN has an article on something I’ve not heard of: White hydrogen:
A couple of hundred meters down, the probe found low concentrations of hydrogen. “This was not a real surprise for us,” Pironon told CNN; it’s common to find small amounts near the surface of a borehole. But as the probe went deeper, the concentration ticked up. At 1,100 meters down it was 14%, at 1,250 meters it was 20%.
This was surprising, Pironon said. It indicated the presence of a large reservoir of hydrogen beneath. They ran calculations and estimated the deposit could contain between 6 million and 250 million metric tons of hydrogen.
That could make it one of the largest deposits of “white hydrogen” ever discovered, Pironon said. The find has helped fuel an already feverish interest in the gas.
White hydrogen – also referred to as “natural,” “gold” or “geologic” hydrogen – is naturally produced or present in the Earth’s crust and has become something of a climate holy grail.
Sure, sounds nice, since it produce H2O when ‘burnt’.
But I can’t help but notice that, once again, we’re looking at using a resource that doesn’t renew quickly. Contrast that with solar power, which comes from a source that will, in all probability, outlast us.
Which is better to be dependent on, all other factors being equal.
And it’s true, it is silly to think the other factors are equal. Energy density, transportability, pollution, all these other factors complicate assessments.
But I can’t help but notice that burning white hydrogen will eventually exhaust it, and, odds are, faster than we think. So being feverish about it is a bit premature.
