“I believe that access to electricity and light can radically
improve people‚ lives.”—Olafur Eliasson
***
Bill Bryson once reminded, “We forget just how painfully dim the world was before electricity. A candle, a good candle, provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt light bulb.”
This was in the past. Today, we have several sources of electricity. In modern times, primary energy sources now exist in various forms, such as nuclear energy, fossil fuels—including oil, coal, and natural gas—and renewable sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower.
All the above energy sources are transformed into electricity, a secondary energy source, which travels through power lines and other transmission infrastructure to reach our homes and businesses.
But one source of energy that most Filipinos are not familiar with is the hydrogen gas. When we were in our third year of high school, our chemistry teacher told us that hydrogen is the lightest gas among all gases.
Hydrogen is characterized as colorless, odorless, tasteless, and non-toxic. At atmospheric temperatures and pressures, hydrogen exists in a gaseous state. Due to its high bond strength, hydrogen forms a stable molecule, but it becomes reactive when subjected to elevated temperatures or in the presence of catalysts.
Scientists say a significant quantity of hydrogen atoms is found in water, plants, animals, and, naturally, humans. However, despite its presence in almost all molecules of living organisms, it is extremely rare as a gas, comprising less than one part per million by volume.
Hydrogen serves as a clean substitute for methane, commonly referred to as natural gas. It is used in industrial processes, as a rocket fuel, and in fuel cells for electricity generation and powering vehicles. Operators of several natural gas-fired power plants are exploring hydrogen as a supplement or replacement for natural gas. Hydrogen has the potential to indirectly store energy for electric power generation.
In the United States, they are burning hydrogen for electric power generation and for heating. Several power plants in the US have announced plans to operate on a natural gas-hydrogen fuel mixture in combustion-gas turbines.
The Philippines is taking similar steps. Last year, in an effort to enhance electricity reliability and promote renewable energy in Mindanao, Hydrogène de France (HDF), a prominent French green hydrogen firm, signed three Memorandum of Cooperation (MOCs) to initiate Renewstable® hydrogen power plant projects in Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Zamboanga City.
These initiatives are designed to create multi-megawatt power plants that produce stable power from variable renewable energy sources, including wind and solar, by transforming them into green hydrogen.
Meanwhile, a recent study has indicated that the natural gas emanating from the Nagsasa seep in San Antonio, Zambales, exhibits the highest recorded gas seepage, which is capable of generating renewable energy to satisfy the power requirements of the town.
These gas seeps, referred to as “outgassing,” have emitted a remarkable 800 tons of geologic hydrogen. This figure exceeds the former record of 200 tons that was documented in Albania in 2024. The area of Nagsasa encompasses more than one hectare of land featuring gas seeps.
Dr. Karmina A. Aquino, a geological chemist and Science and Technology fellow at the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI), states that the natural hydrogen fluxes recorded in the country represent a potential source of renewable energy and are crucial for meeting the power needs of San Antonio, the town that hosts the seep.
Citing a result of the study, it said that the surface outgassing in the seep may generate 12,861 to 15,185 megawatt-hour (MWh) per year which is up to 42% of the estimated 36,600 MWh demand of San Antonio.
Emphasizing the significance of natural hydrogen in tackling the ongoing global climate crisis, Aquino noted that the International Energy Agency has established a worldwide objective of producing 500 million tons of clean hydrogen to achieve its “net-zero emissions goal” by 2050. This objective is consistent with the aims of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to restrict the increase in global temperatures to 1.5°C.
“Currently, 96% of hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels such as methane. Therefore, methane is converted into hydrogen. In this process, CH4, or methane, yields hydrogen, but it also results in the emission of carbon dioxide, which is not environmentally friendly,” Aquino was quoted as saying.
Aquino further clarified that geologic hydrogen, commonly referred to as natural hydrogen, is the gas that occurs naturally beneath the Earth’s surface, formed through interactions between water and rock.
“We knew this for so long. Actually, the Philippines is one of the original sites for geologic hydrogen, as early as the 1980s or earlier,” Aquino said.
Since geologic hydrogen is being produced naturally, it has been widely used for a long time now on several sites worldwide, according to Aquino. Citing an example, she said that in the US, there are a lot of funds allocated for geologic hydrogen exploration.
“In the Philippines, there are known sites, and we know there is hydrogen there, but we don’t know how much we can get and if it’s worth pursuing and if it’s economical,” Aquino said.
