Key research might just have given Earth a new hope amid the current climate crisis, as scientists have reportedly uncovered an 'untapped' natural energy source that could power our planet for the next 170,000 years.
Going green amid fears surrounding climate change is something that many scientists and governments are prioritizing in the coming years, as it has been indicated that Earth is reaching a 'tipping point' of environmental damage that will be impossible to return from once reached.
China in particular are a leading nation with their clean energy efforts, having constructed major solar projects similar to efforts by other countries like the United Arab Emirates, along gigantic power stations in space.
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However, a new breakthrough in how we identify certain energy sources could provide the clean energy alternative that the Earth so desperately craves, putting an end to the dangerous carbon emissions that are aggressively harming the planet and fast-tracking its destruction.
What is the untapped energy source?
As reported by Live Science, a new study published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment has outlined an 'ingredient list' of geological conditions that would make locating naturally-occurring hydrogen deposits far easier.
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Hydrogen is currently one of the leading power sources in opposition to harmful fossil fuels, and is used for 'cleaner' power plants and things like electric cars, but most of the gas used today comes from hydrocarbons, which have a significant carbon footprint and aren't quite as clean as they might initially seem.
What are the benefits of naturally sourced hydrogen?
Comparatively though, naturally-occurring hydrogen from the Earth has virtually no carbon impact, and would therefore be a far safer and greener option if it were available in large quantities.
Chris Ballentine, a geochemistry professor at the University of Oxford and lead author of the aforementioned study, has indicated that the amount of hydrogen produced by the Earth's crust over the past 1 billion years is enough to solely fuel all activity on our planet for the next 170,000 years, and thus efficiently sourcing it would provide a major boon to our ever-increasing power demands.
How is hydrogen naturally found?
The study has outlined the different geological conditions that can create hydrogen, pointing towards a trifecta of the hydrogen itself, reservoir rocks, and natural seals to trap the gas underground.
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Chemical reactions that split water into oxygen and hydrogen are some of the simplest ways to form the desired gas, and certain areas across Earth - including many in the United States - match these conditions:
"One place that is attracting a lot of interest is in Kansas where a feature called the mid continental rift, formed about 1 billion years ago, created a huge accumulation of rocks (mainly basalts) that can react with water to form hydrogen. The search is on here for geological structures that may have trapped and accumulated the hydrogen generated," Ballentine explains.
What future plans does the study outline?
This particular study only represents the beginning of research into hydrogen deposits across Earth though, and further research will have to be conducted to properly understand the exact material conditions that would allow locating and extracting the gas to be as efficient and plentiful as possible.