Is Idaho the future of a new clean energy source? This company hopes so
Idaho could be the next frontier in clean energy, according to a startup that recently got approval to move forward in its exploration for the commodity.
Koloma, a natural hydrogen company that does business in Idaho as Cascade Exploration, is looking for naturally occurring underground hydrogen gas in Canyon County. It has submitted applications for two test wells near Notus, one of which has been endorsed for approval by the Idaho Department of Lands.
If approved, the permits would allow the company to analyze the subsurface with sonic waves and drilling. The company has yet to disclose financial details of the projects, and so far has requested drilling on small footprints totaling 280 acres.
Underground hydrogen was discovered by chance when crews were digging a well in Mali in the 1980s, according to reporting from Science. Kristen Delano, a spokesperson for Koloma, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview that the discovery shocked scientists, many of whom thought hydrogen molecules were too small to collect underground.
“Scientists flocked from all over the world and studied it for about a decade, and it completely flipped science on its head,” Delano said.
An oil and gas businessman began exploring the well as an energy source in 2007, according to Science. Proponents say it could be a breakthrough renewable energy source that replaces carbon-based energy for uses like aviation fuel, manufacturing, and energy production and storage.
Koloma Senior Regulatory & Permitting Coordinator Lauren Morahan told the Idaho Oil and Gas Commission during an informational presentation in August that southwest Idaho could be an ideal spot to search for hydrogen because of the presence of basalt, a volcanic rock that’s common on the landscape.
The type of hydrogen the company is searching for is created by water that seeps through the earth’s surface or rises through the core and interacts with iron-rich rock – like basalt – underground, creating gas that collects there. Unlike carbon-based energy sources, hydrogen regenerates much more quickly.
The industry is still in its infancy. Right now, the well in Mali remains the only viable hydrogen well in the world. Koloma is backed by investors like Amazon, United Airlines and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and has about $400 million in fundraising, according to financial reports. It’s currently also looking for hydrogen in Kansas and Iowa.
Delano said the search for hydrogen is “the new gold rush.”
“Everybody is after what we would call a ‘commercially viable well,’ so can we find the resource in a large enough quantity to where we could actually bring it to market and put it to use,” Delano said.
Delano said hydrogen drilling rigs look similar to oil and gas drilling equipment, but she and Morahan noted that there is no horizontal drilling or fracking – fracturing rock by injecting high-pressure fluids – involved in their process.
Morahan told commissioners that it could take years for the company to do tests, deal with regulations and move forward with more development.
“We are truly in exploration mode,” she said. “We are where oil and gas was a century ago.”