From Earth’s Core to Clean Energy: The Rise of White Hydrogen

In the times when the “Green Hydrogen Future” bubble seems to have burst with many once big proponents now opting out of the green hydrogen adoption goals, the focus rightfully shifts to other competitors in the clean fuel space, such as biodiesel, ethanol, natural gas, biogas, and even other components of the hydrogen spectrum. White Hydrogen is one such underrated component of the green hydrogen spectrum that may have a vital contribution in the sustainable future.

Unlike green hydrogen – which relies on renewable electricity for electrolysis – and blue hydrogen – which captures and stores carbon emissions – the concept of white hydrogen involves harnessing naturally occurring hydrogen from the Earth’s subsurface. This difference potentially makes the white hydrogen not only cost-effective but also provides a unique opportunity in the quest for low-carbon energy alternatives.

Introducing White Hydrogen

The trademark feature of white hydrogen, or natural hydrogen, is that it does not need to use inefficient methods to synthesise the fuel or make use of it. Requiring no human-driven production process, it occurs naturally and comes to usage at comparatively much lower cost.

Owing to their exploration and development expertise, the World Economic Forum suggests that oil and gas companies are well-placed to become champions of this emerging low-carbon fuel. 

From Green to White…

Global low-carbon hydrogen demand is forecast to reach almost 200 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) by 2050, up from about 1 MTPA today. While the expectations are huge from green hydrogen supply meeting the bulk of this future demand, the recent trends of huge firms losing interest in GH2 is raising doubts in the viability of the billions dollar idea. 

The cost is a major issue for the GH2 sector. Green hydrogen’s production costs are still very high, ranging from USD 6/kg to USD 12/kg. This is due to green hydrogen’s need for high availability of renewable power for electrolysis. Furthermore, GH2 will also depend for years on substantial subsidies to work towards a commercial threshold in the range of USD 3/kg, a huge expense on governments’ exchequer. White hydrogen solves or eases some important challenges the sector faces.

It is believed that, appearing in the earth white hydrogen is substantially cheaper, rivaling the targeted price of GH2, that is USD 1/kg. In fact, the WEF notes that white hydrogen produced at scale from reservoirs sited close to end-user markets could be delivered well below USD 1/kg. While the drilling, mining operations make white hydrogen less cleaner than green hydrogen, it still is a considerable option to meet global low-carbon hydrogen demand. 

Recent Global Discoveries

Recent discoveries have given push to white hydrogen. The most remarkable discovery is of France’s Lorraine region that has sparked a new interest in this resource as a potential game-changer for clean energy. The recently discovered Lorraine basin is believed to contain about 46 million tonnes of natural hydrogen. This is equivalent to half the world’s current hydrogen production, and is enough to contribute to the European Union’s (EU’s) decarbonisation objectives significantly. 

 

Discoveries were also made in other areas, including Spain and Iceland. Mali’s Bourakébougou well is the only operational site, since 2012. Mali’s example has demonstrated the technical feasibility of white hydrogen, generating electricity for local villages. 

The Monzón project in Huesca, Spain, also plans to drill Europe’s first appraisal well to extract natural hydrogen. In 2024, significant hydrogen (with helium) was found in the Rukwa region of Tanzania.

Breathing Life Into A Non-Existent Industry 

While white hydrogen production has the potential to reach 17 MTPA by 2050, as per a WEF report, the industry is still in its early years and is years away, if not a decade, from being able to even be considered as a major alternative to GH2.

By 2024, only a handful of innovators backed by private investment lead the way in trying to understand the prospective resource. However, the new color of hydrogen is swiftly gaining popularity. Recently, big mining and oil firms, as well as Bill Gates’ clean tech investment fund, have made notable investments in start-ups to support their exploration and drilling for white hydrogen deposits. 

In January 2025, BP Ventures announced the closure of the first tranche of Series-A funding for Snowfox Discovery, a UK-based natural hydrogen exploration company. The investment round also included contributions from Oxford Science Enterprises and mining giant Rio Tinto.

A major mining company Fortescue also bought USD 21.9 million stake in HyTerra. The start-up spudded an exploration well at a Kansas white hydrogen exploration program, and is also doing a seismic survey, to support prospect analysis and drilling locations in the second half of 2025.

Australia’s Whitebark Energy has recently launched critical work activities on the Rickerscote Prospect. Here, the resources are estimated at 710 million Kg of white hydrogen, 97 Bcf of helium, and 153 million barrels of oil equivalent. The country’s Gold Hydrogen Ltd also secured a five-year license in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula (the Ramsay Project) to drill for hydrogen. 

Mantle8, a French natural hydrogen exploration company, has raised a EUR 3.4m seed round with investment from Kiko Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe (BEV-E). Notably, Mantle8 is targeting hydrogen production at just USD 0.80/kg, potentially revolutionizing the clean energy market.

Not a Competitor, But a Complementary Resource

White hydrogen should be seen not as a competitor undermining green hydrogen efforts, but as a complementary resource. It has its own challenges, like unavailability of infrastructure. The white hydrogen has the potential to play a huge role in the future energy mix, but it is still highly uncertain.

On the optimistic side, some scientists suggest the Earth holds trillions of tonnes of hydrogen, that is the theoretical resource base of white hydrogen is enormous. Recent discoveries like the 46-million-ton French cache bolster the view that large accumulations do exist. That said, translating that reserve into production is a big leap. However, one Wood Mackenzie report suggests that white hydrogen could reach about 17 million tonnes per year by 2050. 

However, it still will form a small section of the overall hydrogen supply expected by mid-century. However, considering the dynamicity of the energy industry overall, a lot can change through the next decade.