The ‘H’ that barely scratches the surface
What comes to mind when you hear the word “energy?” Oil, coal and gas, most likely. Electricity, maybe. High prices, certainly. A few would even think of solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energies. Nuclear, even.
But did hydrogen ever seep into your mind?
One geochemist has. And this idea that the universe’s most abundant element, the one that fuels the stars, could be harnessed into usable, cheap energy has driven Dr. Karmina A Aquino to literally dig deep beneath our feet.
She’s in search of what’s called hydrogen seeps, where hydrogen gas from the Earth’s subsurface is naturally released from fractured bedrock or through springs and soil depressions. And she believes this country has a lot of these hydrogen seeps, which could then be tapped as a critical energy source for industries, including the transport industry.
This was what Karmina presented at the 4th Convention of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) S&T Fellows Program last Aug. 8 at the Hilton Manila Newport Resort. The convention put the spotlight on MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprise)-driven innovations that aim to bring science closer to industry and communities.
A DOST S&T Fellow, Karmina presented her study, “Hydrogen SEEP: Sustainable Rock-Derived Energy Exploration in the Philippines,” which explores the potential of geologic hydrogen in Zambales Province. This promising, groundbreaking (pun intended) research looks into hydrogen as a future sustainable energy source for the country.
Encouraged by how the Department of Energy (DOE) describes hydrogen as the “fuel of the future,” Karmina said that she sees a huge potential for the Philippines to be a significant source of hydrogen to fuel the cars of the future, citing the Toyota Mirai FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) as an example.
However, she said, there are challenges, such as infrastructure and technology for processing, storage, and distribution of hydrogen as fuel. She said she would contribute what she knows “during roadmapping meetings.”
According to the commentary “Balancing hope and hype on hydrogen’s role in the Philippine energy transition” by experts from the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Technology Management Center (scienggj.org), “The high upfront costs for the infrastructure and equipment installation may be a significant barrier, so government authorities must develop policies that incentivize the adoption of hydrogen-based energy solutions.”
DOE Energy Utilization Management Bureau Director Patrick T. Aquino said that “the DOE and DOST are coordinating on resource assessment (for hydrogen). There are pending hydrogen service contracts under consideration of the Office of the President. The country still needs to confirm the commercial viability of extraction of the resource. Extraction and determination of viability is through private sector investment.”
Earth’s hydrogen factories
Karmina Aquino said that geologic hydrogen can be formed naturally through radiolysis (hydrogen production from radiation emitted by rocks), serpentinization (water oxidizes the iron in the mineral, transforming the rock into new minerals, like serpentine, and releasing hydrogen gas as a byproduct), and maturation of organic matter. All of these naturally occurring hydrogen Karmina describes as “clean hydrogen.”
“According to the International Energy Agency, the world needs up to 520 million tons of hydrogen per year so we can reach the net-zero emissions goal in 2050. This is as heavy as almost 1 million A380 airplanes. But most hydrogen being produced here is ‘dirty’.”
For reference, there are what you call “clean” and “dirty” hydrogen. The “clean” hydrogens are also what’s called the “gold” or “white” hydrogen. These are the terms for naturally occurring geologic hydrogen produced by radiolysis and serpentinization. It’s considered clean because the hydrogen is already made by the Earth. There’s also “Green Hydrogen,” which is the ultimate goal for clean energy. It’s produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, using electricity generated from renewable sources like solar or wind. It produces zero carbon emissions.
“Dirty” hydrogens, on the other hand, are those that rely on fossil fuels for their extraction or production. The “gray” hydrogen, the most common and cheapest form of hydrogen produced today, is created from natural gas (methane) using a process called Steam-Methane Reforming (SMR). While it effectively produces hydrogen, it also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide directly into the atmosphere. “Brown/Black” Hydrogen is the dirtiest version, made by gasifying coal (brown or black coal). This process is even more carbon-intensive than gray hydrogen, releasing a higher volume of carbon dioxide for every unit of hydrogen produced.
In Karmina’s previous discussions about geologic hydrogen, during the 68th episode of “Behind the Science Podcast,” she highlighted the importance of natural hydrogen to address the current global climate situation.
“Ninety-six (96) percent of hydrogen produced today is formed from fossil fuels like methane. Methane is converted to hydrogen, but the by-product is carbon dioxide, which is not clean,” she said.
5.6 trillion tons of geologic hydrogen
“There are studies indicating we have abundant available geologic hydrogen: Up to 23 million tons per year in hydrogen seeps (estimated natural geological hydrogen that escapes from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere). In totality, we have about 5.6 trillion metric tons of (geologic) hydrogen. This is truly abundant, equivalent to 10 billion A380 planes.
“If we can access even only 2 percent of this, that’s enough for us to reach our global net emissions goal for 2050. Thus, the objective of our project is to study these hydrogen seeps in the Philippines so that we can ascertain their potentials as an energy source. We use nuclear science and geochemistry to study the composition of water, rocks and minerals, and gases in these seeps for us to know where these are coming from and how much they are, and if there are other such seeps. And I’m sure, there are many other hydrogen seeps in the country,” Karmina explained.
Karmina said this undertaking requires multi-sectoral collaboration. “We have partners such as the local government units in San Antonio, Zambales, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the DOE and other stakeholders.”
She disclosed that the DOE has already come up with a platform for the industrial exploration of geologic hydrogen, which includes “our role in the research and development (R&D) in order to give science-based technical basis in choosing what the next areas in the country have potential sources of geologic hydrogen.”
“In the next few months, our goal is to produce a geologic hydrogen R&D roadmap based on international best practices. Our hope is similar to the Bourakebougou village in Mali, one of the world’s first hydrogen-powered villages, as its electricity production from natural hydrogen is without any CO2 emissions via direct combustion. Hopefully, we will also have our own hydrogen-powered village in San Antonio. And from that, eventually to big commercial production of geologic hydrogen in the future,” she said.
Why zero in on San Antonio in Zambales? In the podcast, Karmina revealed a recent study showing natural gas from the Nagsasa seep in San Antonio had the highest recorded gas seepage capable of producing renewable energy to meet the power demands of the town.
This gas seep, also known as “outgassing,” released a record 800 tons of geologic hydrogen, surpassing the previous record of 200 tons reported in Albania in 2024. The site in Nagsasa covers an area of more than 1 hectare of gas seeps.
