The geologic hydrogen hunt now spans almost 30 countries
A Nature journal news feature compiled the underground-hydrogen research across almost 30 countries and nearly 500 million US dollars of venture capital. HyTerra's Nemaha well in Kansas fell short of commercial production; H2Au started drilling in Kansas in August. IBTimes UK repeats those figures and a 2024 Science Advances estimate of tens of trillions of tonnes of the molecule in the subsurface, much of it impractical to recover.
Science··Morning
Nature's round-up is not a new reservoir paper
James Mitchell Crow's 15 September 2026 Nature journal text is a research news feature. Prospectors in almost 30 countries are hunting geological hydrogen. Venture capitalists have invested nearly 500 million US dollars in the search for deposits. HyTerra explored for hydrogen in Nemaha, Kansas; there was not enough gas for commercial production. H2Au, headquartered in Epsom, started drilling in Kansas in August. The round-up does not claim a new subsurface reservoir discovery. Field results still vary well by well.[1]
H2Au's Kansas hole is already turning
IBTimes UK, published 15 September 2026, reports energy firms in almost 30 countries drilling for naturally occurring geologic hydrogen. Since 2023 venture capitalists have invested nearly 500 million US dollars in the search, according to Nature. A 2024 Science Advances analysis estimated tens of trillions of tonnes in the subsurface, much of it impractical to recover. Owain Jackson of H2Au, which started drilling in Kansas in August, said natural hydrogen did not exist on Wikipedia five years ago. David Waltham of Royal Holloway said researchers had assumed the gas was not there.[2]
Almost 30 countries and 500 million dollars are the shared count
Both texts print almost 30 countries, nearly 500 million dollars of venture cash and H2Au's August Kansas drilling. Nature stresses that HyTerra's Nemaha well fell short of commercial production and that this is not a discovery paper; IBTimes UK adds the 2024 Science Advances estimate of trillions of tonnes. Well-by-well variation is the shared caution.[1], [2]
