This company wants to extract energy from the seabed: is it a green hydrogen breakthrough?

Currently, geothermal energy represents less than 1% of the global total. This is because the energy source is only practical in a few locations on Earth, especially places with high volcanic activity such as Iceland. Although new technologies are making it easier to find new geothermal resources To take advantage ofThis is limited to volcanic areas.

CGG sees it differently. Describe the group in one White papers Restrictions on exploration for new resources in volcanic areas. Not only is exploration a complex task that requires a unique approach to each source and is therefore very expensive, the amount of heat that can be extracted per site is also limited.

Drilling in the ocean

Instead, CGG wants to drill at a site that continuously generates heat on a large scale. The company wants to drill at the bottom of the ocean, where tectonic plates diverge. The magma is located relatively close to the surface, which means companies have to dig much less deep to capture the heat. CGG also believes that temperatures there are more uniform than at volcanoes, as temperatures drop quickly the farther away you go.

The company estimates that there are about 65 thousand square kilometers of exploitable area in these areas. However, there are some limitations. Due to their distance from the coast, it will be difficult to connect the sites to the electricity grid. According to CGG, it makes sense to use the captured heat to produce green hydrogen, with fresh water as a byproduct.

Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen is an energy carrier and does not emit greenhouse gases when burned, but it must be produced by humans. This is the case currently As good as ever This is done using electricity from fossil fuels, which means hydrogen is usually not environmentally friendly yet. However, the European Union wants to mass-produce so-called green hydrogen, which is produced using CO2-free electricity. Today, only 1% of hydrogen is produced this way.

Many scientists and economists Doubts, however Whether large-scale green hydrogen production is economically feasible with current methods. If, says CGG, it becomes possible to produce hydrogen from geothermal heat, this could change. But for now we have to wait for concrete plans.

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