This month’s meeting was about Golden Hydrogen. Most people are not aware that hydrogen can be found in the ground, having developed as a result of biological action and being captured in certain types of geological structures. This has been known for 100 years but has never been seen as anything other than a specific quirk of nature. There is only one hydrogen well that is used to provide energy for a very small village, and that is in Mali. Now, as the world looks to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the exploitation of natural (golden) sources of hydrogen looks like a possibility. Sources of natural hydrogen in France and Spain are being reviewed, and a major investigation into sources in South Australia is being developed. In America, companies are now looking at creating hydrogen through the use of microbial action in redundant, exploited oil wells that still retain large volumes of non-commercial hydrocarbons.

In the Australian investigations, they have found that the hydrogen gas is mixed with 3% helium, which is an added bonus as helium is in short supply and demand is increasing against a limited supply. It is considered commercially exploitable, and as helium is worth much more than hydrogen, this may serve to kickstart major capital investment in the projects. Currently, they forecast that the cost of extracting hydrogen and helium will be a fraction of the production cost of blue and green hydrogen.

The future is coming, and it glows with a blue flame.

Trevor