Mines to receive $1.5M in federal funding to explore potential of geologic hydrogen

Colorado School of Mines announced today that it has been selected to receive $1.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

The funding is part of ARPA-E's Exploratory topics related to geologic hydrogen, which aim to explore early-stage research and development to advance low-cost sources of hydrogen for our energy future.

Led by Dr. Mengli Zhang and Dr. Yaoguo Li of Colorado School of Mines, the research team will use the funding to leverage geologic, geochemical and rock physics data to build models and technologies for characterizing and monitoring stimulated geologic hydrogen production and identifying hydrogen reserves and processing potential.

Growing evidence – including pioneering research at Mines – has shown that significant amounts of naturally occurring hydrogen exists, or can be stimulated, within the Earth’s crust. Geologic sources are anticipated to provide a pathway to more cost-effective hydrogen production than other forms of processed hydrogen and could play a key role in meeting alternative energy needs for the future.

“In the pursuit of sustainable domestic energy resources and net zero emissions, geologic hydrogen has emerged as a promising potential clean energy resource,” said Walter G. Copan, Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer at Mines. “The ARPA-E geologic hydrogen award recognizes Mines’ commitment to interdisciplinary science, collaborative partnerships, and impactful research in support of real-world energy solutions.”

The research team also includes scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Colorado Boulder, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, California Geological Survey, Terranta and GE Aerospace.