Around 96% of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, with around 1% derived from renewable sources. Global demand for hydrogen is on the rise and will increase to 95 million tonnes by 2022. As over 150+ nations have committed to reducing green policies, hydrogen production has been met with challenges and uncertainty, which is why left-wing billionaires are betting big on searching for buried hydrogen.
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are among the founders behind a new startup called Koloma, a geologic hydrogen company that “leverages its technology, proprietary data, and human capital advantages to identify and commercialize these resources on a global scale.” The Denver-based company has already raised over $305 million and believes that it can alter the way the world uses hydrogen.
“Geologic hydrogen should have a very low carbon impact, but also a tiny land footprint and very low water impact,” Koloma CEO Pete Johnson said. Johnson mentioned how Russia and Ukraine were large exporters of hydrogen-derived ammonia, which is needed for most fertilizer products. “Geologic hydrogen resources in the U.S. will allow us to scale up our domestic ammonia production and become a net exporter, even as we dramatically drop the carbon footprint of the products,” he added.
As noted on the company’s website:
“Our production methods source hydrogen in a clean, continuous, and cost-effective manner, eliminating the barriers that have historically hindered widespread adoption. We are actively engaged in exploration and are appraising assets that will play a significant role in US decarbonization efforts. As the rapidly emerging geologic hydrogen industry takes shape, Koloma’s data-driven approach will power the discovery of geologic hydrogen resources around the world.”
Geologic hydrogen is being touted as “gold hydrogen” or “white hydrogen” as its natural origins make it acceptable to green policies. Other startups are popping up such as Breakthrough Energy that is backed by Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Virgin’s Richard Branson. Various companies are now digging for hydrogen in U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Colombia, and South Korea.
Experts cannot agree on whether there will be enough geologic hydrogen to make a notable difference in the world’s energy use. The Hydrogen Science Coalition, for one, believes that discoveries will produce less energy than a single wind turbine. That’s not stopping big money from backing projects to seek out buried hydrogen in what may become the next gold rush.
There is no plan in place to meet Agenda 2030 or the goal to move toward climate neutrality by 2050. Will this be the next gold rush? It depends on the results of the discoveries and how difficult it becomes for companies to access hydrogen, but this will be nowhere near reminiscent of the actual gold rush, where the average man could make a fortune. We will not see mass migration to areas filled with potential geological hydrogen, unlike the gold rush, where people from throughout the world relocated to the western United States. This will be an industry for the billionaire elite, as will all climate change measures that have no benefits for the average man.
