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DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – It’s no secret that Iowa is home to large geological formations that are rich in hydrogen-producing rocks, but the question in recent years has turned to whether or not that hydrogen can be extracted in meaningful quantities.
If the answer is yes, it’s likely Iowa would have a new natural resource commodity that could be used for a domestically produced fertilizer and clean fuel source.
As exploration continues in the state, Iowa lawmakers are looking to update state laws to help regulate the prospective industry.
Pete Johnson, the CEO of Koloma, a hydrogen exploration company currently operating in Iowa, said the company is still looking to answer some “pretty core technical questions” about hydrogen in the state.
“What we can say is there is a very high potential for subsurface hydrogen in Iowa,” Johnson said.
What is Geological Hydrogen?
The U.S. Geological Survey defines hydrogen gas as a “critical feedstock” used for petroleum upgrading, steel manufacturing and fertilizer production. It also notes that demand for hydrogen is expected to increase globally with decarbonization goals as hydrogen can also be used as an energy source. USGS said most hydrogen gas for industrial use is made via a high-heat reaction of water and coal, or methane.
Certain rock formations also produce hydrogen gas, but until recently, scientists did not believe economic accumulations of the gas were present at depths that could be extracted.
Ryan Clark, the associate state geologist at the Iowa Geological Survey, said parts of Iowa’s geology are “highly prospective” for hydrogen, critical minerals and carbon sequestration.
Geological hydrogen is formed when iron-rich rocks that contain the mineral olivine interact with groundwater in a process called serpentinization, according to Clark. He presented to the House Environmental Protection Committee Feb. 11.
These geological formations are abundant in parts of Iowa that sit on top of the Midcontinent Rift — an event from more than one billion years ago when North America attempted to split apart and large amounts of lava seeped from the earth. That spilled lava solidified into basalt rock that, in Iowa, and most of the country, is buried under thousands of feet of sediment.
Clark said Iowa has the “largest intact” segment of the rift-caused basalt structure, which stretches from the Great Lakes, through Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and into northern Kansas.
Despite the large swath of the Midcontinent Rift through Iowa, Clark said the state geological survey, housed at the University of Iowa, has only 24 borehole samples that were drilled deep enough, and in the right location, to intersect the basalt of the Midcontinent Rift.