These processes are so clearly at work in the Samail ophiolite in the Sultanate of Oman that with the naked eye, you can see hydrogen bubbling up out of springs of water not far from the capital city, Muscat. The participants of the US-Oman Technical Workshop on Geologic Hydrogen witnessed the phenomenon themselves during a field visit on 25 September.
In the foreground, hydrogen bubbles are visibly seeping through the waters of a spring in Oman. Photo: US DOE
The DOE said that it is now considered likely that large quantities of geologic hydrogen exist in the Earth’s subsurface. If it is proven that it can be produced at low-cost and at scale, it could be an entirely new, carbon-free energy source that could accelerate the energy transition. This would be a paradigm shift from conceptualizing hydrogen as a mere energy carrier to it being a primary energy source.
This possibility is the rationale for ARPA-E’s $20 million Funding Opportunity Announcement to Explore the Potential for Geologic Hydrogen. (Earlier post.)
DOE’s Office of International Affairs partnered with Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEM) to convene a US-Oman Technical Workshop on Geologic Hydrogen on 24 September in Muscat, Oman.
With speakers on both sides from government, the private sector, and academic, the purpose of the workshop was to share information and ideas about geologic hydrogen and facilitate new policymaking, commercial, and academic partnerships between our two countries on this topic. Additionally, workshop participants witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MEM and Eden, a DOE/ARPA-E awardee, regarding the exploration and production of geologic hydrogen in Oman.
DOE said that Oman’s unique geology is an exciting test bed for experiments that will help prove—or disprove—the potential for commercially producing geologic hydrogen at scale.
