Hydrogen from oil field to zero emission of warming?

During the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Barcelona, Spain, a Canadian research team announced that they had developed a method to extract hydrogen from oil without releasing greenhouse gases. If this technology is put to practical use, it may become a special medicine for the climate change problem.

Currently, it is natural gas that is mainly used to produce hydrogen. However, while hydrogen is extracted during the extraction process, methane, which is one of the main causes of global warming, is produced. A new technology developed by a Canadian research team claims that it is possible to extract only hydrogen while leaving carbon dioxide and methane in oil and oil sands. The existing hydrogen production method costs $2 per kilogram, but using this technology, it is said that hydrogen can be produced for $0.1-0.5.

This extraction work is already aimed at commercialization. Proton Technologies CEO Grant Stem said hydrogen, drawn directly from oilfields at low cost, without any greenhouse gas emissions, will be able to power the world using almost the same existing infrastructure. It also added that in Canada, where oil sands are abundant, this technology will enable domestic electricity supply for 330 years.

Of course, Brian Horsefield, an expert at GFZ at the German Earth Science Research Center, said that while being innovative and exciting, it would require extensive field testing to see if the technology works. If the technology is put to practical use, it has the potential to significantly reduce global warming gas emissions. Since hydrogen does not emit greenhouse gases even when it is burned, fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen as fuel may become the mainstream rather than electric vehicles that charge with electricity such as thermal power generation. Related information can be found here .