Federal scientists revealed unexplored U.S. hot spots this week that might hold large stores of underground hydrogen.
The U.S. Geological Survey report published Thursday in Science Advances points to areas from the Midwest to the Southeast and California coast that are likely to hold geologic hydrogen, a possible energy source that federal officials have been studying to lower the nation’s carbon footprint.
The study focused on areas that have the right geological conditions for hydrogen accumulation: hydrogen sources, reservoir rocks and seals to trap gas.
To be sure, uncertainties around the generation, migration, accumulation and preservation of hydrogen in the earth’s subsurface make it impossible to precisely determine potential volumes of underground hydrogen, USGS said.
