A Newly-Discovered Albanian Mine Could Be Important Hydrogen Source

A Newly-Discovered Albanian Mine Could Be Important Hydrogen Source

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The Bulqizë chromite mine simply 25 miles east of Albania’s capital Tirana accommodates an enormous reservoir of hydrogen.
GENT SHKULLAKU/Getty Pictures

  • A crew of researchers just lately found an enormous reservoir of hydrogen in a mine in Albania.
  • Its concentrations of hydrogen are so excessive that it has brought about explosions and killed miners.
  • The reservoir might be a potential source of clean hydrogen energy.

Hydrogen is becoming a favorable alternative to fossil fuels as a result of it would not launch carbon into the setting when burned. The draw back is that producing it has lengthy been an energy-intensive enterprise that emits greenhouse gasses that heat the planet. 

However just lately, a crew of researchers uncovered an enormous reservoir of hydrogen buried in a mine in Albania that would function a supply of clean, hydrogen energy

The reservoir — positioned within the Bulqizë chromite mine simply 25 miles east of Albania’s capital, Tirana — vents a minimum of 200 tons of H2 fuel per yr, the researchers mentioned of their report, published last month in the journal Science. They reported that that is one of many largest recorded stream charges of H2  so far. 

“What we now have noticed deep within the mine is one other dimension,” Laurent Truche, the research’s lead writer, told Reside Science. The reservoir “turns a draining pool inside a mine gallery into a panoramic 30-square-meter [323 square feet] jacuzzi effervescent with virtually pure hydrogen.”

However hydrogen can also be a extremely flammable fuel, and the excessive concentrations inside the mine have reportedly brought about three explosions which have killed 4 miners and injured a number of others since 2011, based on Reside Science. 

If the hydrogen within the mine might be safely harnessed, the researchers imagine it might be a key power supply. And whereas giant, pure reservoirs of hydrogen just like this are uncommon, the researchers notice that locations with comparable geology could also be good targets for finding different sources. 

The invention comes simply months after President Joe Biden introduced an initiative to pour $7 billion into seven hydrogen hubs within the US in areas together with the Gulf Coast, Pacific Northwest, and Appalachia. One of many initiative’s objectives is for the hubs to provide “greater than three million metric tons of unpolluted hydrogen per yr,” about one-third of the 2030 US clear hydrogen manufacturing objective.

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