"France was a pioneer in natural hydrogen and is now being overtaken by quite a few countries." This is the warning from geologist Isabelle Moretti, during the presentation, on Tuesday July 16, of an opinion from the Academy of Technologies aimed at "accelerating the characterization of the resource and the exploration of natural hydrogen in France."
This document is accompanied by recommendations for “staying in the race”. Because "in France, there are no red lights, but we could speed up," believes the scientist, the main author of this opinion.
The production of hydrogen underground has long remained "a subject of academic research," she emphasizes. But it is becoming an energy issue at a time when everyone is trying to produce decarbonized hydrogen. However, to date, "99% of our hydrogen is not at all decarbonized, it comes either from methane or from liquid hydrocarbons or from coal" ("gray" or "black" hydrogen), the rest being produced by electrolysis ("green" hydrogen), which itself requires a lot of energy and water.
In this regard, "white" hydrogen raises great hopes. Clean, it is also “hyper-competitive, it is worth moving forward”, the researcher enthuses.