Le speranze dell'idrogeno albanese

In the race for decarbonization many hopes are pinned on hydrogen. It is not considered an energy source but an energy carrier : it stores and provides huge amounts of energy without producing carbon dioxide. In its gaseous state, it is a good fuel : when burned it produces only water not CO2, it can be used in fuel cells to produce electricity, but it generates an amount of heat, expressed in joules per kilogram, that is 2.6 times that produced by burning the

methane. In order to produce hydrogen ,however, large amounts of energy are needed. To electrically separate hydrogen from water molecules, Solar energy is resorted to the use of steam to extract hydrogen from methane gas. Very high costs.

In nature it is almost never found in the pure molecular state it always binds to other substances . When it is not bound to other compounds, it is a colorless gas that tends to dissipate. Therefore, when pure hydrogen is found imprisoned underground, great interest and hopes are kindled.

In a chromium mine in Bulqizë, Albania, northeast of Tirana, 600 meters deep, a group of researchers intrigued by some explosions discovered what the cause of those explosions was: almost pure hydrogen gas.The scientists were confronted with a kind of natural Jacuzzi bubbling up: about 84% of the gas was hydrogen, and at least 200 tons of it comes out of that mine annually. A world record amount. It is estimated that the mine contains a total of 5,000-50,000 tons of volatile vapor If many deposits of hydrogen trapped underground were found, the energy transition would accelerate dramatically