After working in the state’s oil industry and government agencies overseeing fossil fuels, this dreamer is searching for deposits of the clean-burning gas that don’t need to be created from natural gas or water.
Mark Myers, a commissioner with the United States Arctic Research Commission, photographed on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 in Anchorage. Dr. Myers sees geologic hydrogen as a promising path toward reducing global carbon emissions. Alaska geologist Mark Myers hopes that underground reserves of hydrogen could fuel a new state energy industry.
“Do we have those source rocks?” Myers asked. “The answer is all over the place. But the big question is how much of this hydrogen gets created—and preserved. We don’t know.” This is blunt talk from a man who spent more than four decades in Alaska’s oil industry and state government, where his resume included service as the chief of the Oil and Gas Division and a stint as the Department of Natural Resources commissioner. He also, under the administration of President George W. Bush, headed up the U.S. Geological Survey, and is active in academia as a vice chancellor of research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The subsurface hydrogen in Mali was discovered in 1987 by well drillers looking for water. Later, more than two dozen boreholes helped to define the boundaries of these reservoirs, which keep recharging with hydrogen. Since 2012, wells producing 98 percent hydrogen gas have provided fuel for the power plant serving the village of Bourakebougou, according to a study of the reservoirs published in 2023A model developed by the U.S.
Ellis is now leading an effort to develop maps of the areas in the continental U.S. most likely to contain hydrogen. So far, the top prospects appear to be in the Great Plains and the Atlantic coastal plain.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
OPINION: The economic imperative for Alaska pension reformAlaska faces a crisis with hundreds of vacancies among police officers, Alaska State Troopers and teachers.
Read more »
Lone USDA-certified meat processing plant in Southcentral Alaska to close in coming monthsSouthcentral Alaska’s only USDA-certified meat processing facility – Alaska Meat – is shutting down.
Read more »
Scientists, conservationists to hold forum on proposed Juneau-Douglas second crossingThe forum will feature panelists from organizations like the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Audubon Alaska and Territorial Sportsmen, Inc.
Read more »
Emergency appeal: Democrats sue over federal prisoner kept on Alaska U.S. House race ballotAttorneys representing Alaska’s Democratic Party and a state resident filed an emergency appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court Wednesday after a Superior Court judge ruled a federal prisoner who is not an Alaska resident is eligible to appear on November’s ballot as one of four candidates for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat.
Read more »
James Brooks, Alaska BeaconLife Informed.
Read more »
Weather Archives - KTOOPublic media from Alaska’s capital
Read more »