Natural hydrogen

R&D Focus Areas:
Natural hydrogen, Hydrogen market development

Lead Organisation:
Geoscience Australia

Partners:
Geological Survey of New South Wales, CSIRO, Mineral Resource Tasmania

Status:
Completed

Start date:
January 2021

Completion date:
June 2024

Key contacts:
Dr Chris Boreham (Geoscience Australia): Chris.Boreham@ga.gov.au

Funding:
The project is funded under the Exploring for the Future program.

Project total cost:
Not applicable

Project summary description:
Hydrogen from geological sources (geologic hydrogen) is gaining an increasing share of exploration investment and activity globally. If found in commercially exploitable quantities, geological hydrogen could potentially support the transition to a low carbon economy. Australia is considered one of the most prospective locations for geologic hydrogen due to its ancient geology and presence of potentially suitable hydrogen traps (e.g. salt, clays and dolerites). A recent review of geologic hydrogen occurrences found high concentrations of hydrogen in natural gas samples in many parts of Australia.

Geoscience Australia undertook a series of natural hydrogen studies across Australia including extensive soil gas surveys through New South Wales to look for further occurrences of geologic hydrogen under different geological conditions, developed a soil gas sampling methodology, investigated organic decomposition sources of natural hydrogen, commissioned fluid inclusion studies of hydrogen content in cores from Tasmania and South Australia, and completed a passive seismic survey in Tasmania to study historical reports of high natural hydrogen. Further publications will be released through 2024/2025.

Related publications and key links:
Boreham, C.J., Sohn, J.H., Cox, N., Williams, J., Hong, Z. and Kendrick, M.A. 2021. Hydrogen and hydrocarbons associated with the Neoarchean Frog’s Leg Gold Camp, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, Chemical Geology. 575, 120098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120098

Boreham, C.J., Edwards, D.S., Czado, K., B., Rollet, N., Wang, L., van der Wielen, S., Champion, D., Blewett, R., Feitz, A. and Henson, P.A. 2021. Hydrogen in Australian natural gas: occurrences, sources and resources. The APPEA Journal. 61, 163-191. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20044

Boreham, C.J., Wang, L., Sohn, J., Jinadasa, N., Hong, Z, Chen, J., Grosjean, E. and Jarrett, A. 2022. Exploring for the Future – NDI Carrara 1 gas geochemistry: molecular composition, carbon and hydrogen isotopes of hydrocarbon gases and the sources of molecular hydrogen and helium. Record 2022-014. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2022.014

Boreham, C.J., Murray, A, Mahlstedt, N. and Horsfield, B, 2022. Geologic H2 from overmature organic sources: numerical modelling application in the Cooper Basin, Australia. Goldschmidt Conference 10-15 July 2022 Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA. https://doi.org/10.46427/gold2022.9709

Mahlstedt, N., Horsfield, B., Weniger, P., Misch, D., Shi, X., Noah, M and Boreham, C. 2022. Molecular hydrogen from organic sources in geological systems. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 105, 104704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2022.104704

Boreham, C.J., Edwards, D.S., Feitz, A.J., Murray, A.P., Mahlstedt, N. and Horsfield, B. 2023. Modelling of hydrogen gas generation from overmature organic matter in the Cooper Basin, Australia. The APPEA Journal 63, S351-S356. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22084

Miller, C.J., Black, E., Feitz, A. and Waite, T.D. 2023. Kinetic modelling of hydrogen generation via subsurface iron mineral transformations. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/148629

Black, E., Boreham, C., Czado, K., Taylor, G. and Feitz, A. 2023. Natural hydrogen occurrences and generation potential throughout the Eastern Trans-Australian corridor, NSW. Australian Hydrogen Research Conference, Canberra, 8-10 February 2023.

Black, E., Boreham, C., Czado, K., Taylor, G., von Spulak, R. and Feitz, A. 2023. Natural hydrogen and helium occurrences of the Eastern Trans-Australian Corridor (Darling-Curnamonda-Delamerian) in New South Wales, Australia. Natural Hydrogen: A New Frontier for Energy Geoscience Conference, London, 4-5 July 2023.

Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable

 

Reviewed: August 2024