Giant reserves of 'gold' hydrogen may be lurking beneath at least 30 US states, 1st-of-its-kind map reveals

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A groundbreaking map has identified potential huge reserves of naturally occurring hydrogen across the United States.

The research is reportedly the first to map potential locations on a massive scale, highlighting areas where significant hydrogen gas reserves may exist beneath the surface.

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The associate director for energy and mineral resources at the U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement, "This map is quite promising because it shows that several parts of the U.S. could potentially have a subsurface hydrogen resource."

Related: Large helium reserve found in Minnesota could help alleviate US shortages.

The map goes from white to dark blue, with dark blue showing places that are very likely to have a lot of hydrogen, and white indicating no potential for finding hydrogen. Most of Michigan, eastern Kentucky and southern North Dakota, as well as parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa and Oklahoma, are considered to have a high likelihood of holding significant hydrogen reserves.

Whether a region is a potential location for hydrogen storage depends on three key factors coming together: a source of hydrogen, reservoir rocks that can trap the gas underground, and natural seals to contain it. Geologic hydrogen - hydrogen that naturally occurs, also referred to as "white" or "gold" hydrogen - is produced through chemical reactions in rocks, the most fundamental being a reaction that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The map indicates that at least 30 U.S. states possess the necessary conditions for hydrogen to build up underground. A substantial opportunity for discovering the gas exists in vast regions of the Midwest, as well as along the California coast and the Eastern Seaboard, as stated.

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It has the potential to amount to 6.2 trillion tons of gas. Just 2% of that amount would provide enough energy to power the world for 200 years, they noted.

According to a geologist with the USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center who participated in the new study, "The logical next step was to identify where it might exist in the United States."

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