Energy ventures: Hydrogen wildcatters are betting big on Kansas to strike it rich

Energy ventures: Hydrogen wildcatters are betting big on Kansas to strike it rich

Techxplore.com | Michelle Ma, David R Baker | NOVEMBER 25, 2024

A new Gold Rush is taking shape on a quiet stretch of Kansas prairie. There, a clutch of startups backed by the likes of Bill Gates are searching below the surface for naturally occurring hydrogen, a fuel that can generate power without adding to climate change.

Finding it in vast quantities would revolutionize the energy transition. But the hunt is clean energy wildcatting, with a real possibility of failure—and the added risk of diverting limited climate venture capital at a time when the world needs proven emissions-cutting technologies.

Kansas sits atop a geological quirk: The Midcontinent Rift is a subterranean scar a billion years old created when North America started to split down the middle and then stopped. Iron-rich rocks within the rift can produce hydrogen when exposed to water, pressure and heat. And records left over from several old oil exploration wells in the area decades ago show the gas is—or at least was—present.

Other sites around the world also offer tantalizing hints of housing the lightest element in the universe, and the search is starting to attract money. One company, Koloma, has raised more than $300 million, including from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Mining giant Fortescue Ltd. recently spent $22 million to buy a 40% stake in Australia-based HyTerra, one of the startups looking in Kansas.

All told, approximately 50 geologic hydrogen companies are in operation, including explorers, equipment makers, and oil and gas conglomerates funding research, according to BNEF...more
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-11-energy-ventures-hydrogen-wildcatters-big.html