Maintaining global warming well below 2 °C, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, will require a complete overhaul of the world energy system. Hydrogen is considered to be a key component of the decarbonization strategy for large parts of the transport system, as well as some heavy industries. Today, about 96% of current hydrogen production comes from the steam reforming of coal or natural gas (labelled black and grey hydrogen, respectively). If hydrogen is to become a solution, then black and grey hydrogen need to be replaced by a low-carbon option. One method that has received much attention is to produce so-called green hydrogen by coupling water electrolysis with renewable energies. However, green hydrogen is expensive and energy-intensive to produce. Here, we explore an alternative option and highlight the benefits of rock-based hydrogen (white and orange) compared with classic electrolysis-based technologies. We show that the exploitation of native hydrogen and its combination with carbon sequestration has the potential to fuel a large part of the energy transition without the substantial energy and raw material cost of green hydrogen.

按照《巴黎协定》的规定，将全球变暖保持在远低于 2°C 的水平，将需要对世界能源系统进行全面改革。氢被认为是大部分运输系统以及一些重工业的脱碳战略的关键组成部分。今天，目前约 96% 的氢气生产来自煤或天然气的蒸汽重整（分别标记为黑色和灰色氢气）。如果氢要成为一种解决方案，那么黑色和灰色的氢需要被低碳的选择所取代。一种备受关注的方法是通过将水电解与可再生能源相结合来生产所谓的绿色氢。然而，绿色氢的生产成本高昂且能源密集。这里，我们探索了另一种选择，并强调了与经典电解技术相比，岩石氢（白色和橙色）的优势。我们表明，天然氢的开发及其与碳封存的结合有可能在没有绿色氢的大量能源和原材料成本的情况下为大部分能源转型提供燃料。