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  • Review Article
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Natural hydrogen resource accumulation in the continental crust

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 6, pages 342–356 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Naturally occurring hydrogen accumulations could be an important source of clean hydrogen for hard-to-abate industry use and energy, but societally important reserves have yet to be proven. In this Review, we explore the conditions that enable the development of natural hydrogen resources in the geological subsurface, by examining the processes of hydrogen generation, migration, accumulation and preservation. Natural hydrogen is generated within the continental crust by two key mechanisms, water–rock reactions where Fe2+, dominantly in ultramafic rocks, is oxidized to Fe3+, and by radiolysis of water via radioactive elements U, Th and K found in upper-crustal rocks. These two generation reactions operate on very different timescales, ranging from thousands to millions of years for water–rock reactions in highly fractured rocks, to tens to hundreds of millions of years for water-limited water–rock and radiolysis reactions. Different globally widespread terrane types have the potential for hydrogen accumulations: continental margin ophiolite complexes, alkaline granite terranes, large igneous provinces, and Archaean greenstone belts and tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite granitic batholiths. Exploitation of natural hydrogen would have a low-carbon footprint, but continental systems do not provide a regenerating system on decadal to centennial timescales, and should not be considered a renewable resource. Calculating hydrogen generation by water–rock reactions is subject to more uncertainty than radiolysis reactions, but improving these estimates should be a priority for future research.

Key points

  • Over the past billion years, the Archaean crust alone has generated volumes of hydrogen energy equivalent to ca 170,000 years of present-day societal oil use. However, it is not known how much of this hydrogen has been preserved in societally relevant accumulations.

  • Natural hydrogen accumulation requires a source rock, water within the source rock, transport and a trap to retain the hydrogen. The generation and preservation of a gas phase is essential for economic recovery.

  • Gas accumulations of high-purity (>90%) hydrogen are known to occur (such as the Bourakebougou reserve found in Mali), but hydrogen mixed with helium, nitrogen and other gases are predicted in many settings.

  • Helium, readily detected in near-surface fluids, provides a critical analogue to hydrogen, and can illustrate regional controls on deep gas release, transport and gas-phase formation.

  • A basic understanding of the geological controls of hydrogen generation by radiolytic and water–rock reaction pathways exists and enables exploration to find the most prospective regions.

  • The mantle is not a source of hydrogen gas found in the crust or near surface, as mantle-derived hydrogen is most stable as water at pressures and temperatures shallower than ca. 90 km depth.

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Fig. 1: Comparison of commercial hydrogen with natural hydrogen.
Fig. 2: Hydrogen generation in ultramafic rocks from water–rock reactions.
Fig. 3: Water–rock and radiolytic hydrogen generation as a function of depth.
Fig. 4: Tectonic setting controls deep-crustal degassing and helium flux.
Fig. 5: Five potential source-to-sink natural hydrogen systems.
Fig. 6: The global distribution of hydrogen-potential terranes.

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Acknowledgements

C.J.B. and B.S.L. acknowledge the support of the CIFAR E4D programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Chris J. Ballentine, Rūta Karolytė, Anran Cheng & Michael C. Daly

  2. Snowfox Discovery Ltd., Oxford, UK

    Rūta Karolytė & Anran Cheng

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, Ontario

    Barbara Sherwood Lollar

  4. Institute de Physique du Globe, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Barbara Sherwood Lollar

  5. Durham Energy Institute and Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Jon G. Gluyas

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Competing interests

C.J.B. founded Snowfox Discovery Ltd, a hydrogen exploration company, and provides technical advice. J.G. is a co-founder of Snowfox Discovery Ltd and provides technical advice. B.S.L. provides technical advice to Snowfox Discovery Ltd. M.C.D. is a co-founder and Director of Snowfox Discovery Ltd and provides technical advice. A.C. and R.K. are employees of Snowfox Discovery Ltd. The commercial value and carbon footprint details described in this review are derived from the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the internal corporate perspective of Snowfox Discovery Ltd.

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Ballentine, C.J., Karolytė, R., Cheng, A. et al. Natural hydrogen resource accumulation in the continental crust. Nat Rev Earth Environ 6, 342–356 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00670-1

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