Zapping Rocks with Electricity Could Unlock a Vast New Source of Clean Energy
Zapping Rocks Unlocks Stimulated Geologic Hydrogen
Eden GeoPower, a startup founded by MIT grad Paris Smalls, is using high-voltage pulses to fracture underground rocks, a technique that could enable the production of geologic hydrogen—a clean fuel generated by water reacting with iron-rich rock. The company's method, tested in Oman and a Boston suburb, offers a more precise and environmentally friendly alternative to hydraulic fracturing. If successful, stimulated geologic hydrogen could provide nearly unlimited energy, with ARPA-E funding 16 teams to explore the concept.
If we’re 1 percent successful just in the United States, we could power the economy for thousands of years.
- Animats
OK, you put in electricity and get hydrogen. So where are the efficiency numbers?
Just using an electrolyzer to break up water is about 70% efficient, in terms of energy out / energy in.
- BobbyTables2
I realize there may not be an ideal oxygen mixture down there but wouldn’t there still be problems with using extreme heat in the presence of hydrogen???