Researcher collecting a sample in a mine.
What if the natural gas escaping from a mine could power up to 400 homes per year? Professor Oliver Warr and his collaborators have discovered natural hydrogen occurring in a mine in Timmins, Ontario. This breakthrough could pave the way for cleaner, localized energy production.

Oliver Warr, assistant professor in the University of Ottawa Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University Professor in the University of Toronto Department of Earth Sciences, have made a remarkable discovery deep within the Canadian Shield.

In an active mine near Timmins, Ontario, they found significant amounts of naturally occurring hydrogen and helium that have been flowing for over a decade. This revelation could contribute to cleaner, localized energy practices in Northern Canada and globally. The discovery forms the foundation of their recent article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The hidden energy beneath our feet

Currently, hydrogen is primarily produced through energy-intensive industrial processes that frequently release large amounts of CO2, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change. Yet, as professors Warr and Sherwood Lollar have shown, the Earth itself possesses natural, also known as “white,” hydrogen pockets that have the potential to be harnessed for energy.

“All rocks contain tiny amounts of radioactive elements like uranium and thorium. As they decay, they produce helium and can also generate hydrogen by breaking apart water molecules. Over millions of years, this builds up and can lead to significant hydrogen accumulation,” Professor Warr says.

Professor Warr uses a measurement probe to measure the gas bubbles emerging from groundwater.
Professor Warr uses a measurement probe to measure the gas bubbles emerging from groundwater.

Mining communities such as Timmins play an important role in revealing these deposits. Mining operations drill tens of thousands of boreholes, reaching hundreds to thousands of metres underground, to identify rock formations and create geological maps. As Warr and Sherwood Lollar have identified, these boreholes can also act as an escape route for valuable natural gases like hydrogen and helium.

Sustainable and cost-effective solutions

By sampling gases escaping from boreholes at the Timmins site, the researchers found that each borehole emits, on average, about eight kilograms of hydrogen. When multiplied across thousands of boreholes, the potential output increases significantly.

In fact, the total energy could reach around 4.7 million kilowatt hours per year — enough to power roughly 400 homes!

“What if the hydrogen that’s naturally coming out of a borehole could be harnessed as an energy source on site instead of simply being lost to the atmosphere?” Professor Warr proposes.

This localized model could be especially valuable for remote mining operations and northern communities, where reliance on transported fuel is expensive and carbon-intensive. By putting hydrogen to use directly at its source, communities like Timmins could reduce both emissions and energy costs.

Looking ahead

Although the research focused on a single site in northern Ontario, its implications extend far beyond one mine.

“We were studying one mine, but there’s no reason our research couldn’t apply to many others across Canada and around the world,” says Professor Warr.

While the study primarily examines hydrogen, it also highlights opportunities to better understand and potentially capture naturally occurring helium released from the same boreholes. The Government of Canada has listed helium as a critical mineral. It remains in critically short supply despite being essential for technologies such as MRI machines and semiconductors.

As Professor Warr continues this research, he remains focused on deepening our understanding of naturally occurring hydrogen and helium formations in Canada. This includes how these gases migrate, mix and accumulate underground. He’s also exploring how these resources could ultimately be harnessed within Canada to secure a domestic supply of helium and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels through geologic hydrogen, a clean yet currently untapped energy source.

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