Researchers from three prestigious universities — Durham, Oxford, and Toronto — have published a new scientific paper offering guidance for exploring underground hydrogen deposits, claiming that the planet’s reserves could, in theory, meet all energy needs for many years to come — to such an extent that the figure cited might seem like fanciful exaggeration if repeated. (See: Ballentine, et. al. “Natural hydrogen resource accumulation in the continental crust,” Nature Reviews Earth & Environment).

While we don’t know if these professors are right, any article quoting numbers of this magnitude is bound to attract attention.

In the meantime, money continues to pour into the sector — though not necessarily from the major players in traditional oil. We previously noted that Australian mining giant Fortescue acquired a major stake in an Australian company drilling in the U.S. Midwest. Results from those wells are expected this summer.

Now, three major Japanese firms — Toyota, Mitsubishi, and ENEOS Xplora (an oil company) — have invested in an Australian company with promising prospects within Australia, with drilling likely to begin later this year.

We should also not forget the recent discovery in France of what is being promoted as the world’s largest natural hydrogen field. The French government has issued permits to several companies, including a subsidiary of the French utility giant Engie. Given the scale of the discovery and the strength of the players involved, the activity underway in France may well be the spark that propels this industry forward.

Could France become the world’s top hydrogen supplier?

All of this exploratory activity comes at a critical moment for hydrogen advocates. Producing hydrogen using renewable energy remains expensive. The massive plants President Trump is trying to shut down are doing exactly this — and they require substantial government support to kickstart the “green hydrogen” sector as a sustainable energy source.

In contrast, natural hydrogen may be price-competitive — without needing subsidies — so why pay more for the same green fuel?

There would be no need for all the infrastructure and equipment involved in industrial hydrogen production.

However, the question of infrastructure still looms: how will the hydrogen be transported, and in what form? But that may be a matter for later — once we know where these natural deposits are and how widespread they are geographically.

Could mountains lead us into the age of natural hydrogen?

A new study identifies promising zones for natural hydrogen discovery through tectonic plate modeling

Developing geologically sustainable energy resources is one of the major challenges for humanity in the 21st century. Hydrogen gas (H₂) holds enormous potential to replace today’s fossil fuels while eliminating CO₂ emissions and other associated pollutants.

But the key hurdle is that hydrogen must first be produced — and current industrial hydrogen production, even when sometimes powered by renewable sources, can still be polluting if based on fossil energy.

The solution may lie in nature itself, as various geological processes can generate natural hydrogen. However, until now, it has remained unclear where to search for potentially large underground accumulations of this gas.

A research team led by Dr. Frank Zwaan of the Geodynamic Modeling section at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Germany now offers a promising answer to this question.

Using tectonic plate modeling, the team discovered that mountain ranges containing rocks from deep within the Earth’s mantle close to the surface may represent potential “hotspots” for natural hydrogen. These ranges may not only offer ideal environments for large-scale natural hydrogen generation, but also allow for significant accumulations that could be extracted through drilling.

The findings were published in Science Advances. The team included Prof. Sascha Brune and Dr. Anne Glerum from the same department, as well as scientists from Tufts University (Dr. Dylan Vessey), New Mexico Tech (Dr. John Naliboff), the University of Strasbourg (Prof. Gianreto Manatschal), and the company Lavoisier H2 Geoconsult (Dr. Eric C. Gaucher).

The potential of natural hydrogen in tectonic environments

Natural hydrogen can be generated in several ways, including bacterial decomposition of organic matter or the breakdown of water molecules caused by radioactive decay in the Earth’s continental crust. As a result, occurrences of natural hydrogen have been reported in various locations around the world.

The viability of natural hydrogen as an energy source has been demonstrated in Mali, where small amounts are extracted from iron-rich sedimentary layers via drilled wells.

But the most significant and promising mechanism for large-scale hydrogen generation is the reaction of mantle rocks with water — a process known as serpentinization — in which the mineral composition transforms into serpentine minerals while producing H₂ gas.

These rocks are typically located deep beneath the Earth’s crust, so tectonic uplift is needed to bring them closer to the surface to interact with water.

This phenomenon generally occurs in two tectonic settings: ocean basins that form when continents split apart, allowing mantle rocks to rise as the crust thins — as in the Atlantic Ocean — and mountain ranges that form when continents collide again — as in the Alps or the Pyrenees — pushing mantle rocks upward.

Numerical modeling to pinpoint natural hydrogen zones

To better understand these tectonic environments, the GFZ team employed advanced numerical plate modeling to simulate plate evolution from initial continental rifting to full mountain formation.

In these simulations, the researchers were able to identify — for the first time — when, where, and in what volumes mantle rocks rise to the surface, and under what water and temperature conditions serpentinization and natural hydrogen production become viable.

They found that mountain ranges provide far better conditions than rift basins for hydrogen generation, with optimal temperatures (200–350°C) more prevalent and large volumes of water flowing through major fault lines.

Hydrogen production in mountainous regions could be 20 times higher annually compared to rift basins.

Additionally, the porous rock types needed to trap economically viable hydrogen accumulations — such as sandstone — are often present in mountain ranges, while typically absent in the deep settings where serpentinization occurs in rift environments.

Most major US stock indexes declined on Wednesday as investors digested fresh inflation data and shifted focus to corporate earnings reports.

Government data released today showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) in the US remained flat on a monthly basis in June, falling short of expectations for a 0.2% increase.

This came after Tuesday's data revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.7% year-over-year in June, in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, core inflation — which excludes food and energy prices — increased by just 0.2% month-over-month, slightly below forecasts.

Following the inflation report, President Donald Trump renewed his calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and reiterated his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Meanwhile, earnings season kicked off on Wall Street, with some major banks already reporting strong results for the second quarter.

And in terms of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.3% (equivalent to 117 points) to 43,905 points as of 16:32 GMT, while the broader S&P 500 index declined by 0.3% (equivalent to 21 points) to 6,222 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 0.5% (equivalent to 93 points) to 20,585 points.

Copper prices declined on Wednesday amid easing fears of supply disruptions and rising inventories, against a backdrop of uncertainty over the impact of US tariffs.

The benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) dropped by 0.3% to $9,615 per metric ton during official trading, retreating from its three-month peak above $10,000 recorded on July 2.

“There have been no further supply disruptions that would drive prices higher across the exchanges,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.

Protesters in Peru — the world’s third-largest copper producer — ended a more than two-week blockade of a key copper transport route, one of the protest leaders told Reuters on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto reported a 9% increase in quarterly copper output on Wednesday and projected full-year production to be at the upper end of its forecast range. Similarly, Antofagasta posted an 11% rise in copper output for the first half of the year.

In another development, the flow of copper into the US from dealers preparing for tariffs has slowed after the announcement of a 50% tariff set to take effect on August 1.

“Stockpile declines on both the London and Shanghai exchanges have nearly stalled, and we are now seeing stock builds at both sites,” added Shah.

Data on Wednesday showed copper inventories in LME warehouses rose by another 10,525 tons, after surging by one-third over the past two and a half weeks.

Copper contracts on the US COMEX exchange fell 0.9% to $5.53 per pound, widening the price gap between COMEX and LME copper to $2,579 per ton.

Investors also digested Tuesday's data showing that China’s economy slowed less than expected in the second quarter.

“The slightly better-than-expected GDP results reduce the need for additional stimulus, which could weigh on copper prices,” Shah commented.

In contrast, the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.1% to 77,980 yuan (approximately $10,865.11) per ton.

Other Metals:

Aluminum on the LME dropped 0.6% to $2,566 per ton

Nickel fell 1% to $14,995

Zinc slipped 0.4% to $2,686

Lead declined 0.7% to $1,982.50

Tin lost 1.5% to $32,825

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index rose 0.2% to 98.8 at 15:53 GMT, after touching a high of 98.9 and a low of 98.4.

In US trading, copper futures for September delivery fell 1.8% to $5.47 per pound at 15:48 GMT.

Cryptocurrency prices and related stocks rose on Wednesday, as investors brushed off a legislative hurdle that derailed what was expected to be a successful week for digital asset regulation.

According to Coin Metrics, Bitcoin climbed 2% to $119,114.79, while Ether gained 3% to reach $3,156.

Shares of Circle, the stablecoin issuer, rose more than 1% in pre-market trading, while Coinbase gained around 0.5%, rebounding after both stocks closed lower the previous day. Ether-treasury stocks extended their rally, with BitMine jumping 24%, SharpLink rising 14%, and Bit Digital up 5%.

On Tuesday, prices briefly dipped after the US House of Representatives failed to pass two key pieces of crypto legislation: the “GENIUS Act” for stablecoin regulation — which had already cleared the Senate — and the more comprehensive “CLARITY Act”, which is still awaiting a vote in the House.

Several industry players, including Coinbase, had hoped both bills would pass together, but only one had been approved by the Senate, and the broader legislation hasn’t yet reached a House vote.

Owen Lau, an analyst at Oppenheimer, told CNBC the market overreacted, emphasizing that it’s a matter of “when, not if” the bills are passed.

“It’s not that bad,” Lau said. “That’s why Coinbase and Circle rebounded in late trading. These stocks might stay under pressure until a vote happens, but eventually, the legislation will pass after negotiations conclude.”

Lau added that whether the bills pass together or separately is less important for the long-term value of the stocks, though markets would react more positively to a unified vote since that would remove uncertainty lasting three to four months.

On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump said via social media that several House Republicans who had initially blocked the legislation had changed their stance after a White House meeting and would now support its passage.

The current version of the GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from offering interest to users, which boosts the role of Ethereum’s ecosystem — favored by institutions — since it underpins many stablecoins and decentralized applications.

Still, Ether’s recent rally is largely driven by momentum and speculation, rather than strong fundamentals.

According to Markus Thielen of 10x Research: “Active addresses haven’t increased, network revenue remains flat, and gas fees are only slightly higher.”

Ether’s price has doubled over the past three months.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin, which had dropped earlier this week after $360 million in long liquidations on Monday, dipped again following the legislative delays but quickly rebounded. On Monday, it had hit an all-time high above $120,000.

Data from SoSoValue showed that Bitcoin ETFs attracted $402.99 million in institutional inflows on Tuesday, while Ether ETFs saw $192.3 million in inflows.