Discovery of white hydrogen in France makes people dream: ‘It is not impossible that we also find it in Belgium’

The discovery of possibly a lot of ‘white’ hydrogen in France makes people dream of a breakthrough in the green energy transition. ‘There is no reason why there should not also be reserves in the soil in Belgium. But it is too early to shout victory.’

It sounds like a fairy tale. By relying on natural indications such as ‘fairy circles’, round depressions in the ground where the vegetation is different, geologists look for ‘white hydrogen’ in the subsurface. And that is certainly white gold in 2023: CO₂-free fuel continuously generated by the Earth.

Discoveries were made earlier this year in the French region of Lorraine that indicate a potentially enormous supply of the substance. Last Sunday, the French government issued a permit for a white hydrogen research project in the Atlantic Pyrenees. Five applications are still pending.

Currently, hydrogen is usually ‘grey’: extracted from natural gas, which releases a lot of CO₂ is released. That is why governments are focusing on ‘green’ hydrogen. It is made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, and renewable energy is the driving force.

But white or ‘natural’ hydrogen requires no processing: it bubbles out of the ground as a finished product. Ready to heat homes, roughly carbon-free. With an estimated price of 1 euro per kilo, white hydrogen would be considerably cheaper than the more laborious green hydrogen, which costs an average of 6 euros per kilo.

As the climate crisis becomes increasingly acute and a phase-out of fossil fuels becomes more urgent, it is not surprising that positive news about that ‘white gold’ is causing excitement.

Today this is especially the case in France. “A permit for further research has also been requested for the site in Lorraine, where the stock could possibly be very large,” says Emmanuel Bensadoun, technical manager at France Hydrogène.

Sources have also already been discovered in Spain, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Iceland, Norway, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. In the US, white hydrogen is being drilled in Nebraska. A reservoir in Mali has been the only one actually exploited since 2014. “Until recently, not much attention was paid to it, because the world runs on oil and gas,” says Bensadoun.

Not searched yet

There are no known reservoirs in our country, but no search has yet been done for them. Bensadoun knows that Wallonia is mainly being looked at. “Our geologists say that there is no reason why it would be impossible to find natural hydrogen in Belgium,” says Jan Mertens, scientific director at Engie. “The geological formations in Belgium do not rule out the possibility that natural hydrogen is also formed in our soil, just like in nearby Lorraine. But no measurements have ever been reported. So if we want to know, there must be a measurement study. In other places it has already been shown that as soon as you start research, you often find some potential. In any case, we need these kinds of breakthroughs to accelerate the energy transition.”

Regardless of any domestic sources, Belgium might also benefit from white hydrogen from Lorraine. “Transport from there to here is not unrealistic,” says Jan Vaes, hydrogen expert at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO).

But there are still many hurdles to overcome. “It’s too early to shout victory. The pressure is so great due to the climate crisis that it is tempting to skip steps in your mind. In practice that is not possible,” says Bensadoun. “Because we do not yet have answers to crucial questions.”

For example, it turns out to be difficult to estimate exactly how much volume of white hydrogen there is underground. “It is also not known how quickly these natural sources are replenished and how pure the white hydrogen found is,” says Bensadoun.

Risk of leaks

And because hydrogen is the smallest molecule and highly flammable, extraction is also not self-evident. The risk of leaks is high and white hydrogen could indirectly cause a greenhouse gas effect. “That could be significant, but we don’t know enough about that yet,” says Bensadoun.

He and other experts estimate that exploitation of white hydrogen will be an option from 2028 at the most, provided that all the hurdles for safe extraction are cleared smoothly.

But that’s not quite there yet, because hydrogen transport is technically more complicated and therefore a lot more expensive than transport of natural gas and oil.

“Because hydrogen molecules are so small, you need a lot of volume for a certain amount of energy. Or you have to place the hydrogen under very high pressure and compress it. The risks of leakage and explosions are also much greater than with natural gas,” says Vaes. “Even now, the major costs of green hydrogen are mainly related to transport. The hydrogen economy is being hyped, but as long as there is no real CO₂taxes that make fossil fuels more expensive, it remains a difficult story.”

It can all be solved technologically, but even with white hydrogen, transport would still increase the price. “The only way to reduce those costs is a pipeline that is close to the source and industry and other applications that are not too far away,” Vaes added. “In that sense, supply from Lorraine is more realistic for our country than importing green hydrogen from distant sunny areas.”