This Canadian Mine Might Release Enough Natural Hydrogen Each Year to Power 400 Homes, Hinting at an Untapped Source of

[Judi Lynn]

This Canadian Mine Might Release Enough Natural Hydrogen Each Year to Power 400 Homes, Hinting at an Untapped Source of Clean Energy



Many of the country’s metal mines are embedded in an ancient rock formation that probably also houses a lot of the resource, referred to as “white hydrogen”

Margherita Bassi | Daily Correspondent
May 21, 2026 10:00 a.m.



Researchers collected groundwater in boreholes up to 1.8 miles underground. The water contains dissolved natural hydrogen. Barbara Sherwood Lollar


Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. We commonly use it to manufacture fertilizer and to make certain foods shelf-stable, among other applications. What’s more, the element doesn’t produce planet-warming greenhouse gases when burned, so it’s considered a tantalizing source of “clean energy.”

But humans are currently generating most of our hydrogen from fossil fuels; we release roughly one billion U.S. tons of carbon dioxide to create 107 million U.S. tons of the sought-after substance. Hydrogen can be produced from renewable energy sources, too, but the process is often costly.

The Earth creates its own natural hydrogen, called “white hydrogen,” via chemical reactions in the crust. Now, using data collected at a metal mine in Ontario, Canada, for over a decade, researchers have found that the site annually discharges enough hydrogen to power more than 400 households each year.

More than 70 percent of the continental crust can potentially produce hydrogen, so accessing the rock layer via mines might be a way to obtain a substantial amount of the element, according to a study published May 18 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-canadian-mine-might-release-enough-natural-hydrogen-each-year-to-power-400-homes-hinting-at-an-untapped-source-of-clean-energy-180988773/

[DemocracyForever]

1. This is an additional green hydrogen source

that sounds promising. A couple of years ago, an underground reserve of hydrogen gas was also found that is 26 times the size of the remaining crude oil reserve. If humanity can only access part of this underground hydrogen reserve, it'll be enough clean energy to power humanity for 200 years. My engineer father firmly believed that green hydrogen is the energy solution. This is further proof that he was right.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. "Colors of Hydrogen"

“Brown" or “Black” Hydrogen: Produced using coal. (Ick!)
“Grey” hydrogen: Produced using natural gas (Not as bad as coal, still…)
“Blue” hydrogen: Produced using natural gas, supposedly capturing the CO₂.
“Pink” hydrogen: Produced from water using nuclear power.
“Green” hydrogen: (Typically) produced from water using renewable power (PV, Wind…)
“White” hydrogen: “Natural” or “Geologic” hydrogen. (Might be produced by drilling wells, like natural gas wells.)

(This story is about “White" hydrogen.)

[DemocracyForever]

6. It's a green form of hydrogen

No fossil fuels are used to produce this form of hydrogen. This is what makes it a green source. Also, the only by-product from burning green hydrogen is water and not the planet killing greenhouse gases. My father was an engineer and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers so this issue was part of my childhood. My engineer father firmly believed that green hydrogen is the solution to getting the world to stop burning the planet killing fossil fuels. Green sources of hydrogen are now being found in enough quantities to make this a reality.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. I understand why you call it "green"

However, “green hydrogen" (in the accepted usage) typically refers to hydrogen artificially produced using renewable energy.

In contrast to “green hydrogen” this “white hydrogen" is naturally occurring.

[DemocracyForever]

9. Green energy doesn't involve fossil fuels

Green energy is an overall term that refers to energy that doesn't involve fossil fuels and won't poison our planet whether it's naturally occurring or created from other renewable sources of energy. This issue was part of my childhood thanks to my engineer father who well understood the issue. Just curious, are you an engineer?

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. I'm not a mechanical engineer, however, my family is full of engineers of one sort or another

Before leaving my job, I mentored a young PhD-wielding mechanical engineer (now acting chair of the mechanical engineering department at the local community college.)

[DemocracyForever]

11. My father had bachelors and masters degrees in mechanical engineering

more than 40 years of aviation and automotive engineering work experience including 40 years of both military and commercial filing experience which meant he had extensive knowledge of the weather. In addition, my father was also a long time member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. I consider myself very lucky to have been raised by someone who was a genuine expert on what is clearly the biggest threat humanity faces, human caused climate change. My engineer father knew exactly how every aviation and automotive fuel and oils were formulated and the damage that they're doing to our planet. My engineer father was convinced that "green" hydrogen was the solution because he understood that the world must stop burning fossil fuels.

[OKIsItJustMe]

12. Right, I'm not voicing opposition to "green hydrogen" merely pointing out accepted terminology

Your father was most likely talking about hydrogen generated by splitting water using electrolysis, powered by renewable energy. That’s the usual definition of “green hydrogen."

Really, up until a few years ago, the very idea that useful amounts of naturally occurring hydrogen (as described in this story) could be recovered was thought to be nothing more than a fantasy. That’s what makes this story newsworthy. (As my electrical engineer brother used to say, “Unless you can point to great gouts of hydrogen stored underground, hydrogen will never be a viable fuel.)

When I drew this story to my brother’s attention, his reaction was, “Good! It’s in Canada! I may only hear the explosion.” — He had built hydrogen leak detectors for an “accelerator" facility.

Hydrogen is a tricky element, it’s so small it can leak out of joints more easily than other gases or fluids. It’s also so small, that it can sneak into metals, causing them to become brittle (known as “hydrogen embrittlement.”) This makes it challenging, but I don’t believe the challenges are insurmountable. NASA for example has been working with hydrogen since before it existed. (Early hydrogen-powered rockets were built by a NASA predecessor, NACA.) The Saturn V’s upper stages were powered by hydrogen and oxygen. (The explosion on Apollo 13 was not caused by hydrogen, it occurred in a liquid oxygen tank.) The Challenger’s hydrogen tank exploded, but it was ignited by a leak in one of the solid rocket boosters. — Still, it stands as a dramatic demonstration that hydrogen can (potentially) be dangerous.

I think that “green hydrogen” and/or fuels made with “green hydrogen” (like “green ammonia”) will play a role in our future energy system, but it is not “the solution."

[DemocracyForever]

13. Green is used for all environmentally friendly technologies

Any use of hydrogen that doesn't involve fossil fuels is considered to be environmentally friendly and is therefore a green technology. The story you posted isn't the first report of hydrogen being found underground in large enough supplies to provide a significant source of green energy as I noted in my original post. The underground reserve of hydrogen gas that's been found is 26 times the size of the remaining reserve of the planet killing fossil fuel If only a portion of this underground hydrogen gas reserve is accessed, it'll provide enough energy to power humanity for 200 years. That's a significant supply of hydrogen, Your reply also doesn't note that storage facilities and supply lines will have to be retrofitted to handle hydrogen because conventional storage tanks and supply lines aren't adequate.
BTW, there have been many leaks and explosions with gasoline over the years that people don't think about. Underground gasoline storage tanks at gas stations have been leaking gasoline into the water supply for years. The gas tank in the back of every fossil fuel powered car is an explosion waiting to happen.
I'm well aware of NASA's work with hydrogen. My engineer father's inspiration for deciding that hydrogen is the solution was the fact that that the space shuttle ran on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. NASA is currently looking for water on the Moon in order to extract the hydrogen and use it for fuel to be able to go to Mars and beyond.
No offense to your brother but an electrical engineer is not a mechanical engineer. It's the mechanical engineers that really understand how the various modes of transportation are constructed and what they'll need to be able to adapt to a world that no longer burns fossil fuel. Please don't think that you know more about this than my engineer father knew about it. This issue was part of my childhood.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. More here

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127189954

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks for sharing the link. Sorry I didn't take the time to see it before posting this one.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. No need to apologize, I thought the link to the study might be helpful

[NNadir]

8. Let's be sure to drill for it, burn it quickly, and dump the water into the atmosphere lest we leave anything...

...for future generations. This will ensure that among other things that we like to do them, they will have fewer resources, and - as the combustion product is water - even faster rising seas, and maybe even depleted oxygen levels to go with all the carbon dioxide we're leaving them.

They're not our problem, those future generations, and anyway, we fully expect them to do all the things we couldn't do ourselves, "by 2050," or "by 2100" to be totally "green," and if they don't do what we couldn't do ourselves, they can just screw off.

It's not like we should leave any resources for the future - although this is not really much of a resource.

The "home" by the way, is not a unit of energy, except among journalists, an indicator that one cannot get a degree in journalism if one has passed a science course with a grade of C or better.

The unit of energy is the Joule, a derived unit based on the SI units of mass, length and time.

There are zero hydrogen schemes of any of the stupid colors people attach to the sources, that are sustainable.

Zero.