IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i5p2400-d1085793.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Origin and Occurrence of Natural Hydrogen

Author

Listed:
  • Lu Wang

    (Institute of Energy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Zhijun Jin

    (Institute of Energy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    Sinopec Exploration and Development Research Institute, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Xiao Chen

    (Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Yutong Su

    (Institute of Energy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Xiaowei Huang

    (Institute of Energy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Abstract

Hydrogen is an attractive, clean, sustainable energy source primarily produced via industry. At present, most reviews on hydrogen mainly focus on the preparation and storage of hydrogen, while the development and utilization of natural hydrogen will greatly reduce its cost. Natural hydrogen has been discovered in many geological environments. Therefore, based on extensive literature research, in this study, the distribution and sources of natural hydrogen were systematically sorted, and the identification method and occurrence state of natural hydrogen were examined and summarized. The results of this research show that hydrogen has been discovered in oceanic spreading centers, transform faults, passive margins, convergent margins, and intraplate settings. The primary sources of the hydrogen include alterations in Fe(II)-containing rocks, the radiolysis of water, degassed magma, and the reaction of water- and silica-containing rocks during the mechanical fracturing. Hydrogen can appear in free gas, it can be adsorbed and trapped in inclusions. Currently, natural hydrogen exploration is in its infancy. This systematic review helps to understand the origin, distribution, and occurrence pattern of natural hydrogen. In addition, it facilitates the exploration and development of natural hydrogen deposits, thus enabling the production of low-cost hydrogen.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Wang & Zhijun Jin & Xiao Chen & Yutong Su & Xiaowei Huang, 2023. "The Origin and Occurrence of Natural Hydrogen," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:5:p:2400-:d:1085793
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/5/2400/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/5/2400/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vincent, Immanuel & Bessarabov, Dmitri, 2018. "Low cost hydrogen production by anion exchange membrane electrolysis: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1690-1704.
    2. Francis H. Chapelle & Kathleen O'Neill & Paul M. Bradley & Barbara A. Methé & Stacy A. Ciufo & LeRoy L. Knobel & Derek R. Lovley, 2002. "A hydrogen-based subsurface microbial community dominated by methanogens," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6869), pages 312-315, January.
    3. Santanu Kumar Dash & Suprava Chakraborty & Devaraj Elangovan, 2023. "A Brief Review of Hydrogen Production Methods and Their Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Michael R. Perfit & Johnson R. Cann & Daniel J. Fornari & Jennifer Engels & Deborah K. Smith & W. Ian Ridley & Margo H. Edwards, 2003. "Interaction of sea water and lava during submarine eruptions at mid-ocean ridges," Nature, Nature, vol. 426(6962), pages 62-65, November.
    5. Barbara Sherwood Lollar & T. C. Onstott & G. Lacrampe-Couloume & C. J. Ballentine, 2014. "The contribution of the Precambrian continental lithosphere to global H2 production," Nature, Nature, vol. 516(7531), pages 379-382, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lu Wang & Zhijun Jin & Xiaowei Huang & Runchao Liu & Yutong Su & Qian Zhang, 2024. "Hydrogen Adsorption in Porous Geological Materials: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Rafael d’Amore-Domenech & Isabel Carrillo & Emilio Navarro & Teresa J. Leo, 2023. "Alkaline Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production at Sea: Perspectives on Economic Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Veenstra, Arjen T. & Mulder, Machiel, 2024. "Profitability of hydrogen production: Assessment of investments in electrolysers under various market circumstances," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayiguzhali Tuluhong & Qingpu Chang & Lirong Xie & Zhisen Xu & Tengfei Song, 2024. "Current Status of Green Hydrogen Production Technology: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-47, October.
    2. Solanki, Bhanupratap Singh & Lim, Hoyoung & Yoon, Seok Jun & Ham, Hyung Chul & Park, Han Saem & Lee, Ha Eun & Lee, See Hoon, 2025. "Recent advancement of non-noble metal catalysts for hydrogen production by NH3 decomposition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    3. Negar Shaya & Simon Glöser-Chahoud, 2024. "A Review of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Studies for Hydrogen Production Technologies through Water Electrolysis: Recent Advances," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Daniela S. Falcão, 2023. "Green Hydrogen Production by Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Status and Future Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-8, January.
    5. Dariusz Knez & Omid Ahmad Mahmoudi Zamani, 2023. "Up-to-Date Status of Geoscience in the Field of Natural Hydrogen with Consideration of Petroleum Issues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Yaowei Huang & Da Xu & Shuai Deng & Meng Lin, 2024. "A hybrid electro-thermochemical device for methane production from the air," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Beata Kurc & Xymena Gross & Natalia Szymlet & Łukasz Rymaniak & Krystian Woźniak & Marita Pigłowska, 2024. "Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles: A Paradigm Shift in Sustainable Transportation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-38, September.
    8. Mustafa Ergin Şahin, 2024. "An Overview of Different Water Electrolyzer Types for Hydrogen Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Nihat Ege Sahin & W. J. Pech-Rodríguez & P. C. Meléndez-González & Juan Lopez Hernández & E. Rocha-Rangel, 2023. "Water Splitting as an Alternative for Electrochemical Hydrogen and Oxygen Generation: Current Status, Trends, and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-25, June.
    10. Shiva Zargar & Miyuru Kannangara & Giovanna Gonzales-Calienes & Jianjun Yang & Jalil Shadbahr & Cyrille Decès-Petit & Farid Bensebaa, 2024. "Data Hub for Life Cycle Assessment of Climate Change Solutions—Hydrogen Case Study," Data, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Tufa, Ramato Ashu & Chanda, Debabrata & Ma, Ming & Aili, David & Demissie, Taye Beyene & Vaes, Jan & Li, Qingfeng & Liu, Shanhu & Pant, Deepak, 2020. "Towards highly efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction: Cell designs, membranes and electrocatalysts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    12. Promise O. Longe & David Kwaku Danso & Gideon Gyamfi & Jyun Syung Tsau & Mubarak M. Alhajeri & Mojdeh Rasoulzadeh & Xiaoli Li & Reza Ghahfarokhi Barati, 2024. "Predicting CO 2 and H 2 Solubility in Pure Water and Various Aqueous Systems: Implication for CO 2 –EOR, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Natural Hydrogen Production and Underground Hydrogen Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-48, November.
    13. Anna Król & Monika Gajec & Jadwiga Holewa-Rataj & Ewa Kukulska-Zając & Mateusz Rataj, 2024. "Hydrogen Purification Technologies in the Context of Its Utilization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-38, August.
    14. Dhruv Singh & Piero Sirini & Lidia Lombardi, 2024. "Review of Reforming Processes for the Production of Green Hydrogen from Landfill Gas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-35, December.
    15. Hou, Xiaojiang & Wang, Yi & Yang, Yanling & Hu, Rui & Yang, Guang & Feng, Lei & Suo, Guoquan, 2019. "Microstructure evolution and controlled hydrolytic hydrogen generation strategy of Mg-rich Mg-Ni-La ternary alloys," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    16. Choe, Changgwon & Cheon, Seunghyun & Gu, Jiwon & Lim, Hankwon, 2022. "Critical aspect of renewable syngas production for power-to-fuel via solid oxide electrolysis: Integrative assessment for potential renewable energy source," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Ortiz-Imedio, Rafael & Caglayan, Dilara Gulcin & Ortiz, Alfredo & Heinrichs, Heidi & Robinius, Martin & Stolten, Detlef & Ortiz, Inmaculada, 2021. "Power-to-Ships: Future electricity and hydrogen demands for shipping on the Atlantic coast of Europe in 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    18. Jimiao Zhang & Jie Li, 2024. "Revolution in Renewables: Integration of Green Hydrogen for a Sustainable Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-26, August.
    19. Zhidi Wu & Jason D. Simmons & Samuel Otu & Alex Rinehart & Andrew Luhmann & Jason Heath & Peter Mozley & Bhaskar S. Majumdar, 2023. "Control of Cement Timing, Mineralogy, and Texture on Hydro-chemo-mechanical Coupling from CO 2 Injection into Sandstone: A Synthesis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-27, December.
    20. Yongjie Luo & Qinghao Meng & Yuan Chi & Qianggang Wang & Yongshou Zeng & Zaoming Deng & Yao Zou, 2024. "A Low-Carbon Optimal Operation Method for an Industrial Park Multi-Energy Coupling System Utilizing By-Product Hydrogen," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-24, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:5:p:2400-:d:1085793. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.