A US start-up has emerged with plans to produce what it calls stimulated geologic hydrogen (SGH) by using oil and gas techniques to accelerate natural hydrogen production processes.
GeoRedox today (March 27) said it was leaving “stealth mode” thanks to a new partnership with geothermal energy firm Sage Geosystems to work on the design, construction and operation of SGH projects.
With plans to start constructing a field demonstration site in 2026, GeoRedox claims its approach could produce “ultra-low-cost,” carbon-free hydrogen close to existing industrial hydrogen markets.
The start-up plans to deploy its catalyst-free advanced weathering enhancement (AWE) technology – which it says is “akin to natural electrolysis.”
H2 View understands this involves injecting water into underground, iron-rich rock formations. This mimics a natural process called serpentinisation, where water reacts with certain materials in the rock to produce hydrogen.
To speed up the reaction, GeoRedox plans to engineer the subsurface environment by increasing the rock’s exposed surface area and controlling how water flows through it.
The hydrogen gas released by this reaction builds up in the rock formation and is then extracted using wells – similar to how natural gas is collected.
It comes as excitement about the potential of natural hydrogen has grown. Although the natural deposits could be extracted, just like natural gas reserves, the extent and locations of the deposits remain unexplored.
However, GeoRedox says its technology could yield larger quantities of hydrogen than what is produced subsurface naturally in easier-to-reach locations.
Under the partnership with Sage, the pair will share technical expertise, data and resources necessary for project implementation.
“Our demonstration project will simultaneously validate our geochemical and thermodynamic models and at the same time show that we can deliver commercially compelling outcomes in real-world settings,” said GeoRedox President, Robert Stoner.
“We expect our hydrogen to compete unsubsidised in the 100-megatonne existing global hydrogen market – and that’s just a beginning.”
Despite the potential of the technology, it will have to prove itself in the real world. In 2022, the IEA estimated around 70-80 million tonnes of oil and gas methane emissions came from natural gas extraction, processing and transport.
While hydrogen is not a direct greenhouse gas (GHG) like methane, its near-term global warming impact was found to be “masked” by current lifecycle assessment models – which already suggested its global warming potential over 100 years (GWP100) was almost 12 times higher than that of CO2.
As hydrogen is a far smaller molecule than methane, potential leakage from extraction could be greater.
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