France discovered the world's largest reserve of 46 million tons of natural hydrogen worth $92 billion that could reshape the world's clean energy industry, as per a report.
French scientists have found the natural hydrogen below the soil in Folschviller, a region in the Moselle department, according to Interesting Engineering. This discovery has the potential to transform the global energy market by providing a new source of carbon-free fuel and putting France at the pinnacle of the global energy revolution, as per the report.
Scientists from the GeoRessources laboratory and CNRS found this unexpected resource while they were on a mission to find methane, reported Interesting Engineering. But rather than methane, they found a vast deposit of white hydrogen that occurs naturally, 4,101 feet (1,250 meters) deep, as per the report.
Unlike renewable energy-dependent industrial production of green hydrogen or the polluting gray hydrogen made from fossil fuels, white hydrogen is naturally occurring in the ground, reported Interesting Engineering. It means that it does not need energy-consuming processes for production, but can be accessed and utilized without any emissions.
According to scientists, it is estimated that the 46 million tons of natural hydrogen would substitute more than half of the world's annual gray hydrogen production but without the environmental costs, Interesting Engineering. The experts valued this deposit at around $92 billion, making it one of the biggest energy finds in history, according to the report.
The Economic Times
