UAF workshop will look at Alaska’s geologic hydrogen

Reshaping Alaska’s energy future with geologic hydrogen is the subject of a three-day workshop next week hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Office of the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs, Michael Sfraga. He will attend.

Geologic hydrogen gas is created in Earth’s subsurface through various natural, geological processes. Hydrogen is considered a clean fuel source because it produces only water vapor as a byproduct, resulting in no carbon emissions at the point of use.

The Oct. 29-31 Geologic Hydrogen Workshop at UAF’s Wood Center will bring together scientists from UAF and other universities, energy experts, the private sector, Alaska Native corporations and state and federal policymakers, including from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Sfraga previously served in several positions at UAF, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1984 and UAF’s first doctorate in northern studies and geography in 1997. He is a former chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. 

Geophysical Institute Associate Director Jessica Larsen, who is helping organize the event, said she hopes the conference will help UAF scientists get involved in geologic hydrogen research.

“UAF has research expertise in geologic materials characterization,” she said. “Applying that to geologic hydrogen would be similar to what we do now with critical minerals and carbon sequestration.”

Unlike hydrogen generated from industrial processes, geologic hydrogen is released or accumulates in specific geological settings. It is sometimes referred to as natural hydrogen or white hydrogen and is increasingly being studied across the nation as a potential clean energy source.

Geologic hydrogen can sometimes be detected through gas seeps at the surface.

Just how much geologic hydrogen Alaska holds is unknown, but the state’s geology is conducive to its existence, said Mark Myers, a member of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and a leading proponent of exploring for geologic hydrogen.

“We have the right kind of geology to suggest it could be here,” Myers said. “The areas where we're likely to find it are not the oil and gas basins; it’s in areas often associated with critical minerals, strategic minerals and precious minerals.”

“And that hydrogen gas may be present in close proximity to where you need energy for a mine or a village,” he added.

Myers is helping organize the Fairbanks workshop with the backing of the full Arctic Research Commission.

Myers received his Ph.D. in geology from UAF in 1994. He is a former UAF vice chancellor for research and also served as director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and, later, the U.S. Geological Survey.

“I’ve been concerned for a while in my role as a U.S. Arctic Research Commission member about how we are going to make the energy transition,” Myers said.

“There are many viewpoints of what energy sources we should use,” he said. “We have a lot of folks advocating for change, but we don't have a fully vetted pathway to get there in the time frame that we need to in order to avoid most of the warming that we’ll see from greenhouse gases.”

The three-day workshop is a start at bringing parties together to begin pursuing geologic hydrogen in Alaska. Naturally occurring geologic hydrogen has an advantage over industrially produced hydrogen, which requires energy to produce, primarily from natural gas.

“Geologic hydrogen is a primary source of energy that requires very little energy to produce,” Myers said. “Other places in the world are starting to look for it, but we haven’t been paying attention to it in Alaska.”

The Geophysical Institute has several facilities and laboratories that can be useful in searching for geologic hydrogen, including the Hyperspectral Imaging Lab, Advanced Instrumentation Lab, Geochronology Lab and Permafrost Lab. The institute also has experts in remote sensing, sedimentology, geology and other fields of relevance to geologic hydrogen.

Other UAF research units and departments also have facilities and expertise, including the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, College of Engineering and Mines and Institute of Northern Engineering.

“I think there are many ways that researchers across UAF, and not just at the Geophysical Institute, could play a role in this,” Larsen said. “That is my hope.”