Korea University of Energy Science, Presentation on 'Core Process Technology for Natural Hydrogen' at International Conference

Professor Hwang Ji-hyun of Korea University of Energy Science and Technology is presenting at the 'Hydrogen Drilling 2024' conference held in Houston, USA. Photo by Korea University of Energy Science and Technology

The research team led by Professor Hwang Ji-hyun at Korea Energy Technology University (KENTECH) announced that on the 11th (local time), they were invited as a keynote speaker at the 'Drilling for Hydrogen 2024' conference held in Houston, USA, where they presented the 'Research Results on Core Process Technology and Economic Evaluation of Natural Hydrogen.'

The 'Drilling for Hydrogen 2024' conference is a global forum where experts on natural hydrogen gather to discuss technologies related to exploration, drilling, production, storage, transportation, and economic evaluation of natural hydrogen. Currently, hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power or by reforming natural gas. In contrast, natural hydrogen refers to hydrogen naturally deposited in the earth and is being developed and explored in various locations worldwide. To distinguish it from existing 'green hydrogen' and 'blue hydrogen,' it is also called 'white hydrogen' or 'gold hydrogen.'

Professor Hwang's team explained that securing economic feasibility is crucial to achieving a hydrogen society, which is why they conducted research on core process technologies for natural hydrogen and presented their findings at this conference. The team emphasized, "With conventional methods, energy loss due to entropy increase during production is inevitable, making it difficult to achieve price competitiveness. Natural hydrogen does not require energy conversion processes, thus avoiding energy loss."

In this study, Professor Hwang's team analyzed natural hydrogen wells reported worldwide to date and proposed the feasibility of development and optimal processes for each region to enable innovative natural hydrogen development.

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Professor Hwang stated, "Hydrogen is indeed the direction humanity should pursue, but currently, the entire hydrogen industry?from production to storage, transportation, and utilization?is economically unfeasible, making progress difficult without government-led initiatives rather than private sector efforts. Urgent efforts and support from countries are needed to develop natural hydrogen, a primary energy source like oil and natural gas."