Energy policy analysts predict an expanded role for hydrogen (H₂) in the future energy mix, with H₂ projected to account for as much as 30% of the energy supply in some sectors and demand increasing more than five-fold by 2050. To achieve climate objectives, these projections involve methane derived H₂ coupled with carbon sequestration (blue H₂), and H₂ generated by electrolysis of water using renewable sources of electricity (green H₂). Reaching these goals will require an unprecedented investment in new technology and infrastructure. Currently, H₂ is viewed exclusively as a medium for energy storage and transport and not a primary energy resource. Although the presence of natural H₂ in the subsurface of the Earth is well documented in a variety of geologic environments, economic accumulations of natural H₂ have generally been assumed to be non-existent. Recent discoveries in Africa and elsewhere have challenged this notion, and there is a growing acknowledgement that geoscientists have not looked for native H₂ in the right places with the right tools. While much is known about the occurrence of subsurface H₂ (e.g., generation mechanisms, consumptive processes, etc.), there is currently a lack of understanding of the processes and settings that are most conducive to the formation of significant accumulations of H₂. I will discuss what we know and don’t know about the global resource potential for natural hydrogen, how we can apply existing resource exploration strategies, and what new knowledge and technologies are needed to improve our understanding of this previously overlooked potential energy resource.
In this lecture, I’ll showcase several non-seismic applications of DFOS, with a focus on distributed strain sensing based hydraulic fracture monitoring and distributed temperature sensing based well integrity monitoring. Through a series of field case studies, I will demonstrate the value of DFOS measurements in the hydrocarbon exploitation and carbon dioxide sequestration sectors, emphasizing the significant business impact of cross-disciplinary research in this domain.