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Renewable Natural Hydrogen

The natural creation of hydrogen

The natural creation of hydrogen can occur in several ways, as described by Geoscience Australia. As different minerals interact with one another beneath the surface of the Earth’s crust, chemical reactions take place which generate hydrogen. The two most prospective natural hydrogen methods in South Australia can be simplistically described as:
  • Serpentinisation
  • Radiolysis
The interaction between iron, water and heat.
The interaction between radiogenic material and water.
Additional theories hypothesise that natural hydrogen comes from deep within in the Earth’s core and travels to the surface via deep-seated faults.

H2EX’s vast acreage across South Australia has the ability to test various natural hydrogen play-types.

Detecting natural Hydrogen

To date, natural hydrogen has been accidentally discovered when industry has conducted mining, oil & gas and ground water sampling activities. In South Australia, there are three historical oil bores which detected natural hydrogen in material quantities.
  • Ramsay Oil Bore-1
  • American Beach Bore-1
  • Robe-1
Sample Depth (Metres) 241m 261m 508m
Hydrogen 76% 64% 84%
Sample Depth (Metres) 187m 290m
Hydrogen 51% 69%
Sample Depth (Metres) 1,241m
Hydrogen 25%
On-trend and in close proximity to H2EX’s exploration license PEL 691, as well as our PELAs 690 and 725.
Hydrogen can be safely transported by pipeline or trucks for use to make the greenest form of ammonia and nitrogen for fertilisers, fuel for industrial or community power generation or as a transport fuel for trains, ships, trucks and cars. When used as a fuel, hydrogen produces no associated carbon dioxide emissions (zero emissions) nor soot.
Hydrogen can be co-mingled with methane (natural gas). Co-mingling trials are currently occurring in Adelaide and other jurisdictions globally. Reports suggest that natural gas will be phased out and replaced exclusively by hydrogen pipeline transportation. Hydrogen pipelines exist in the United States and Europe, transporting hydrogen from refineries to chemical plants.
Hydrogen can also be liquefied or converted into ammonia. Liquid hydrogen has been used by NASA since the 1940’s and is the fuel of choice for the space shuttle programme. Through decades of advance technical research, the transportation and storage of hydrogen has been refined such that it can be transported and stored safely. It is likely that export markets will either use liquified hydrogen or ammonia for transport over long distances to Australia’s established energy trading partners in Japan, Korea and China.