A deep reservoir for hydrogen drives intense degassing in the Bulqize ophiolite. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38330123/)

These scientists went to a place called the Bulqize chromite mine in Albania to study something called hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas can be a source of energy if we can find a lot of it in the ground. The scientists found that the mine is releasing a lot of hydrogen gas into the air. In fact, they measured that about 84% of the gas coming out of the mine is hydrogen. That's a lot!

They also found out that at least 200 tons of hydrogen gas is being released from the mine every year. That's a huge amount! It's one of the biggest amounts of hydrogen gas ever recorded.

The scientists think that this hydrogen gas is not just coming from old fluids trapped in the rocks, or from the rocks changing over time. Instead, they believe that there is a special place deep in the ground that is holding a lot of hydrogen gas. This special place is connected to a type of rock called ophiolite, which is very old and formed during the time of the dinosaurs.

This discovery is really exciting because it suggests that there might be other places in the world where we can find a lot of hydrogen gas that we can use for energy. It's like finding a hidden treasure!

Truche L., Donze FV., Goskolli E., Muceku B., Loisy C., Monnin C., Dutoit H., Cerepi A. A deep reservoir for hydrogen drives intense degassing in the Bulqize ophiolite. Science. 2024 Feb 9;383(6683):618-621. doi: 10.1126/science.adk9099. Epub 2024 Feb 8.