Next steps focus on research and drilling in highly prospective areas.

For decades, scientists have contended with the idea that naturally occurring geologic hydrogen – an abundant, clean-burning fuel – is a resource too elusive to use as an energy source despite its promise as a tailor-made alternative to fossil fuels for vehicles and high-heat industrial applications like smelting. While nations work to tap manmade hydrogen's potential, a comprehensive map from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has revealed potential geological hydrogen hotspots across the nation.

Spanning the contiguous United States, the Geologic Hydrogen Prospectivity Map highlights regions where various underground conditions create potential goldilocks zones for hydrogen to accumulate. If confirmed, these findings could unlock a truly game-changing fossil fuel-alternative that only emits water vapor when burned¬¬¬-fast-tracking efforts to decarbonize the energy sector across North America and beyond.

While many questions remain about accessibility and verifiable abundance, early estimates suggest this new picture of geological hydrogen supports an energy potential that rivals that of proven natural gas reserves.

"We calculate the energy content of this estimated recoverable amount of hydrogen to be roughly twice the amount of energy in all the proven natural gas reserves on Earth," USGS geologists Geoff Ellis and Sarah Gelman wrote in their associated Science Advances paper.

This discovery could be the start of a new era in clean energy and sustainable resource exploration.

How the map works

The USGS geological hydrogen model makes no predictions about the subsurface distribution of the clean burning fuel, with the authors emphasizing that much of it may be too deep, too far offshore or in accumulations too small to be economically recoverable.

"We showed there is a significant potential for geologic hydrogen as an emerging energy resource. The next logical step was to find where it might be in the United States – and for that, we had to develop a methodology, which we applied first to the lower 48 states," Gelman said.

The resulting map identifies areas with the right geological conditions for hydrogen accumulation. These conditions include the known presence of hydrogen sources, porous reservoir rocks to store the gas, and impermeable seals to trap it underground.

The map also assigns a prospectivity score to each region, ranging from 0 to 1, with higher scores indicating greater potential for hydrogen reserves and areas shaded in deep blue are considered the most promising for exploration.

This systematic assessment provides a valuable tool for prioritizing research and drilling efforts in regions with the highest likelihood of success.

Key regions identified include the Midwest states of Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan; Four Corners states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah; the California coast; and parts of the Eastern seaboard. These regions were identified based on factors like the presence of hydrogen sources, reservoir rocks, and geological structures that could trap the gas, signaling opportunities for further study and resource development in multiple parts of the country.

Why it matters

Researchers and geologists have observed most naturally occurring hydrogen in quantities that are too small or unprofitable to be used as an energy resource. The USGS map challenges that norm, revealing several hot spots with potential hydrogen reserves that could turn the American Corn and Rust Belts into hydrogen hubs.

If confirmed, these reserves would add an impressive boon to the nation's energy mix and drive intense exploration efforts, upgrading the U.S. energy landscape in the process.

Geologic hydrogen's green energy potential is immense, and if recoverable could be double the energy content of all proven natural gas reserves on Earth. However, accessibility factors could limit its usability.

Despite these uncertainties, the sheer scale of the resource hints at a promising future if methods to access and extract geologic hydrogen are developed and refined.

As research progresses, the map will be updated with new findings and refined methodologies.

Future studies and exploration will focus on confirming the presence of hydrogen in identified regions, assessing its recoverability, and evaluating its economic viability.

The USGS Geologic Hydrogen Prospectivity Map isn't just a promise of abundant, low-cost, and clean-burning fuel-however, it can be a tool that finally helps North America adopt cleaner, more sustainable energy solutions at scale.

As exploration zeroes in and technology advances, the map could serve as the catalyst for transforming the U.S. into a global leader in green energy innovation and a future where hydrogen fuels not just industries but entire economies.