Cemvita claims it can get hydrogen cheaper and more environmentally friendly from dormant oil fields. To do this, they use specific bacteria that, through anaerobic digestion of hydrocarbons, generate hydrogen in the subsoil.
Hydrogen has been pointed out by many as the future of energy sustainabilityalthough there are still many challenges to make this possible.
Advances like the new Loop Energy S1200 hydrogen engine are certainly a big step in the right direction. But the question of how to obtain hydrogen cheaply and sustainably remains to be resolved. Or not?
gold hydrogen
What Cemvita Factory denominates hydrogen gold can change things completely. The company specialized in synthetic biology aimed at reversing climate change claims that it is capable of producing hydrogen without the need for electrolyzers or generating carbon emissions during the process.
To do this, the US company would use the oil fields that are no longer used, but still contain fossil fuels inside. According to Cemvita, it is possible to use specific bacteria to carry out a process called anaerobic digestion, through which hydrogen is generated in the subsoil.
Cemvita has already completed a first phase of the project in the laboratory and has started working with the bacteria in an abandoned well. In the, hydrogen concentrations have tripled.
The reason why it is called golden hydrogen is because it does not require the intervention of an electrolyser and does not generate carbon emissions. Although carbon dioxide is also extracted during hydrogen extraction, it is later returned to the well, resulting in a final concentration of nearly 100% pure hydrogen.
1kg hydrogen, 1 euro
Cemvita goes further and ensures that the kilogram of gold hydrogen would cost approximately 1 dollar (approximately 1 euro at the moment). Currently, generating 1 kilogram of green hydrogen costs around 15 times more.
“In a very short time, we moved our microbes from the lab to the well. Hydrogen production in this test exceeded our expectations. As we continue to use downhole hydrogen-producing microbes, We anticipate that we can achieve rates that will translate to hydrogen production of $1/kg or less.”says Zach Broussard, director of Gold H2 at Cemvita.
Cemvita considers that this finding may be especially valuable for the petrochemical industry, since it would allow the reuse of deposits that have already been closed and that do not provide any benefit. However, the rate of production that could be achieved with this gold-hydrogen system remains to be seen.
Currently, the green hydrogen industry is worth approximately 300 million dollars, but forecasts speak of 9.8 billion in 2028Cemvita says. We will have to keep an eye on how the so-called golden hydrogen develops in the coming months.
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