Is There Renewable Hydrogen Under Your Feet?

When a chemist hears the word “hydrogen” several things likely come to mind. The letter H. Or the word ‘gas’. Perhaps a vivid memory of an exploding balloon during an intro chem lecture. “Renewable fuel” is probably not going to pop into anyone’s head, let alone a chemist’s, and yet, a recent Science magazine article describes how hydrogen was extracted from a “well” in Africa to power a village’s generators. The article goes on to describe the historical background of “natural hydrogen” (it was ignored, even thought impossible, for a long time), how it might be produced below the earth’s surface (iron chemistry!), and its possible opportunities-limitations as a fuel source. This is a very new area of science, and there are surely many exciting discoveries waiting to be made. Check out: “Hidden Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?” (Science, 17 Feb 2023, p. 630)