NATURAL HYDROGEN KNOWLEDGE PLATFORM

An advanced analysis tool for opportunity prioritization in natural H₂ exploration and exploitation

Eiichi Setoyama, Ph.D., Bryony Richards, Ph.D., Christopher Kesler, Tony Doré, Ph.D.

VALUE

The Natural Hydrogen Knowledge Platform is for forward-thinking energy companies and academic researchers who are tackling the challenge of efficiently identifying and prioritizing investment in this emerging clean energy source. Setting itself apart from traditional databases or mapping solutions, the platform offers a dynamic, comprehensive, and interconnected view of global natural hydrogen systems (Figure 1), facilitating smarter exploration strategies and fostering innovative energy solutions in the renewable sector.

INTRODUCTION

Natural hydrogen is a new, clean primary energy source with the potential to supplement other renewable technologies and support the increased hydrogen use in the future energy mix. Recently, exploration and research on natural H₂ have gathered momentum, resulting in an exponential increase in the amount of information and data (Figure 2).

Although natural H₂ systems are often compared with petroleum systems, research on the former is still in its infancy, and clarifying differences between the two systems is crucial for natural H₂ exploration. For that purpose, the team at EGI is developing a knowledge platform consisting of a GIS project of natural H₂ sites, with relevant geological data and a collection of interlinked documents. These include site summaries, source rocks, generation reactions, and H₂ properties.

Figure 2. Natural H₂ sites. Data and information review will allow for air-correction of H₂ concentration, assessment of drill bit metamorphism (artificial H₂ generation), and attribute assignment (sample information, field and laboratory methods, and geology) for further analysis.

Figure 1: Schematic Summary of Natural Hydrogen Knowledge Platform.

PROJECT INFORMATION

OBJECTIVES

To capture and organize the ever-increasing information and data on natural H₂ (Figure 3)
To identify key geological conditions for the generation of H₂ and the formation of economic accumulations and to rank the various mechanisms in terms of potential commercial viability
To better understand the feasibility and risks of natural H₂ exploration and exploitation
To apply the outcomes of data analysis and hyperspectral image analysis to characterize selected natural hydrogen sites.
To identify knowledge gaps, in order to facilitate new research, and to propose new research directions

BENEFITS FOR SPONSORS

A go-to database curated by EGI scientists for ideas generation in natural H₂ exploration and exploitation
Regular updates to keep up with ever-increasing publications
A platform designed to: (1) aid in learning about natural H₂ systems, (2) facilitate the data-based assessment of natural H₂ exploration and production feasibility, and (3) support innovation of new exploration and production technology and methods.

KEY DELIVERABLES

GIS project for geospatial data visualization, analysis, and interpretation
Semantic wiki on natural H₂ with topics, such as known natural H₂ sites, natural H₂ system elements and processes, and H₂ properties in sync with the GIS project
Hyperspectral image analysis of known and potential natural hydrogen seeps
Preliminary deliverables will be made available to sponsors and updated regularly.

MILESTONES

Completed tasks that will be regularly updated
- Global natural H₂ occurrences
- H₂ generating reactions
End of June 2024: Release of EGI NHKP StoryMaps (https://arcg.is/0C0Deb)
End of August 2024: Alpha release of NHKP to sponsors with selected natural hydrogen site and concept wiki entries
Late October 2024: Workshop during the EGI technical conference in Houston
End of November 2024: Beta release of NHKP to sponsors
End of March 2025: Project completion and workshop
Regular updates to NHKP after the completion

PROJECT DURATION 

12 months (April 2024–March 2025) for the construction of the platform and analysis, with subsequent updates as required.

Figure 3. Methodology: extending from data acquisition to new data-driven research ideas.

GET IN TOUCH

Eiichi Setoyama, Ph.D. | esetoyama@egi.utah.edu

CORPORATE ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

EGI offers Corporate Associate members a competitive advantage in a highly competitive industry with our diverse staff of expert geoscientists, engineering researchers and innovative technical staff.

EGI’s Corporate Associate members gain access to over $850 million of regional and thematic research for only a fraction of their investment.

Expert Geoscientists

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Engineering researchers

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Innovative technical staff

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ContactEGI@egi.utah.edu | (801) 581 – 5126