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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on May 02, 2025

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Hydrogen as a Fuel

For Preliminary Examination: Hydrogen as a Fuel,  Biofuel

For Mains Examination:  GS III - Environment &Ecology

Context:

Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future — one that would decarbonise world economy and stop global warming. If harvested in a sustainable manner, natural hydrogen may provide a clean and potentially low-cost fuel to satisfy the world’s increasing energy needs with a considerable reduction in carbon emissions as well. And it’s most likely abundant in India, too.

Read about:

How is natural hydrogen extracted?

Biofuel

Key takeaways:

How is natural hydrogen obtained?

Currently, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas using processes that are both energy-intensive and environmentally damaging. Although green hydrogen—generated using renewable energy—is a cleaner option, its high cost and the massive renewable infrastructure it demands make it difficult to scale.

Natural hydrogen exists freely within geological formations and is created through processes such as serpentinisation (when water interacts with iron-rich rocks), radiolysis of water by radioactive elements in rocks, and the decomposition of organic material deep underground

Historical background of its discovery and extraction

• In 1987, during a routine attempt to drill for water in Bourakébougou, Mali, an unusual incident occurred. After drilling down 108 meters without finding water, a member of the drilling crew lit a cigarette, triggering a sudden burst of flame.
• This mysterious fire burned with a blue glow during the day and a golden hue at night, and took several weeks to extinguish. The well remained abandoned for years until businessman and politician Aliou Diallo acquired the exploration rights in 2007.
• By 2012, Chapman Petroleum analyzed the site and identified the gas as being 98% pure hydrogen. This was a significant discovery since hydrogen was not previously believed to exist in such concentrations underground.
• Although naturally occurring hydrogen has been noted for decades through gas seepages, volcanic emissions, and mining incidents, it was long considered a scientific anomaly. Most geologists believed that hydrogen’s small molecular size and high reactivity would prevent it from forming substantial underground reservoirs.
• Today, geologists are beginning to identify environments across the globe—especially tectonically active mountain regions like the Himalayas, Alps, and Pyrenees—as favorable zones for natural hydrogen production.
• The presence of helium alongside hydrogen in certain areas supports the theory that processes like radiolysis contribute to its formation. Additionally, hydrogen found in coal mines suggests the involvement of buried organic matter. What was once an obscure area of geology is now an emerging field with vast energy implications