Hydrogen From Below: U.S. Tests Energy Hidden Underground

DOE-backed pilots from 2023–2024 push underground hydrogen from theory toward early field testing

8 Jan 2026

A quiet shift is under way beneath America’s energy system. Away from wind farms and electrolysers, scientists are asking whether hydrogen can be made underground, using heat, pressure and rock to do part of the work. What was once a fringe idea is now drawing federal money, pilot projects and cautious interest from energy analysts.

The approach is known as stimulated geological hydrogen. Rather than producing hydrogen entirely at the surface, developers try to trigger chemical reactions below ground that generate it in place. If it works, the appeal is obvious. Fewer surface facilities would be needed, land use would be lighter and costs could fall if nature shoulders some of the burden.

This is still far from a commercial proposition. It is an exercise in controlled experimentation. Yet the momentum is tangible. In 2023 and 2024 the Department of Energy awarded grants to several underground-hydrogen research projects. The aim is modest: to answer basic scientific questions about feasibility, yields and risks. Even so, federal backing matters. It lowers early-stage risk, attracts private partners and helps move ideas from laboratory benches to field trials.

Veterans of America’s energy sector see familiar patterns. Some compare today’s interest to the early days of shale gas or enhanced geothermal power, when outcomes were uncertain and progress depended on patient learning rather than quick profits.

A handful of firms are already adapting old tools to new ends. Eden Geopower, for instance, is repurposing drilling and subsurface techniques first developed for geothermal projects. This reflects a broader trend. Skills honed over decades of oil and gas extraction are being redeployed for cleaner aims. The underground, long treated mainly as a store of hydrocarbons, is being reimagined as a platform for low-carbon energy.

The uncertainties are substantial. Regulators have yet to decide how such projects should be overseen. Environmental effects, including the risk of unwanted reactions or leaks, will need close scrutiny. And scale remains the largest unknown. Small pilots may succeed without proving that the method can supply meaningful volumes of fuel.

For now, underground hydrogen is best seen as a research frontier. But if experiments deliver reliable results, it could become a useful complement to established ways of making hydrogen. America’s clean-energy future may not be built solely on what rises above the surface. Some of it may be shaped quietly below.