Earth Source Hydrogen Ltd has been set up to explore for and develop natural hydrogen as a revolutionary new energy resource.
An increasing weight of scientific evidence supports the premise that there is sufficient naturally occurring hydrogen in the earth’s subsurface to supply much of the world’s energy needs indefinitely.
The UK-based business aims to explore for and appraise this potential initially in Australia and selected locations in Europe where, according to ongoing technical studies and the underlying tectonic environment and geological history, there is the highest probability of discovering commercial quantities of natural hydrogen. As an emerging source of environmentally-sound energy, natural hydrogen has the potential to replace hydrocarbon fuels in many applications.
Earth Source Hydrogen’s Managing Director, David Biggs, along with Non-Executive Directors, Dennis Donald and Duncan MacNiven, have a track record in energy exploration and commercialisation. Scottish entrepreneurs, Donald and MacNiven, founded Warrego Energy in 2007 to explore for and produce natural gas in Western Australia. The company was listed on the Australian stock exchange in 2019 and subject to a AUD$440 million takeover by Hancock Prospecting earlier in 2023.
The company has appointed the Rt. Hon. Lord Howard of Lympne CH KC as Chairman. The former leader of the Conservative Party and MP for Folkestone and Hythe, also served in the cabinet as Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Employment and the Environment. Lord Howard will chair the board of Earth Source Hydrogen which also includes Lo Van Wachem and Ken Williams.
David Biggs said: “We strongly believe that natural hydrogen, generated through naturally occurring processes in the subsurface, is a transformational energy source that can satisfy much of the demand for economic, zero-carbon energy on a global basis. Not only is it a greener alternative to finite carbon-based fuels but it is assessed to be cheaper to produce than manufactured hydrogen due to the relatively shallow depths at which it is found and the lack of a need to use energy to separate water in order to create hydrogen.
“Natural hydrogen is a clean, quiet, efficient energy source that can be stored for future use. With no greenhouse gas emissions on combustion, natural hydrogen is lightweight and provides over four times more energy than a kg of coal, almost three times more than a kg of gasoline and more than twice the amount of energy of one kg of natural gas.
“We intend to unlock this exciting potential through the deep expertise of our team, our access to funding, capabilities in acreage capture and knowledge of modern exploration techniques.”
Lord Howard added: “There is no doubt that hydrogen will play a key role in decarbonising our essential, but energy-intensive, heavy industries like steel production, shipping, heavy transport and aviation. The infrastructure is already being built to facilitate these changes and governments around the world have hydrogen strategies and budgets to make it happen.
“The environmental and economic gains of developing natural hydrogen will be truly transformational. I’m excited to be joining Earth Source Hydrogen on this journey that could be game-changing for our planet.”