Bill Gates-backed startup says a global gold rush for buried hydrogen is picking up momentum

Koloma, a U.S.-based clean fuel startup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, says it wants to use expertise that has traditionally served the hydrocarbon industry to power a global gold rush for buried hydrogen.

It comes as buzz continues to build over the clean energy potential of geologic hydrogen, a long-overlooked resource that advocates say could play a pivotal role in the shift away from fossil fuels.

Geologic hydrogen — sometimes known as white, gold or natural hydrogen — refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth's surface. It is thought to be produced by high-temperature reactions between water and iron-rich minerals.

Pete Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Koloma, told CNBC that geologic hydrogen is fundamentally an exploration and production business.

"We can use expertise and service providers that have traditionally served the oil, gas, and mining industries and quickly put them to work in driving the discovery of carbon free-resources. Leveraging and modifying what already exists will allow us to mature the industry faster," he said.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Koloma has raised more than $305 million since it was founded just a few years ago, the company told CNBC.

The startup's backers include U.S. venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, United Airlines and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015.

In turn, Breakthrough Energy's investors include Bridgewater Associates' Ray Dalio, Virgin Group's Richard Branson and Alibaba's Jack Ma.

A dramatic upswing in the number of companies actively searching for geologic hydrogen deposits in recent years prompted analysts at Rystad Energy to describe the pursuit as a "white gold rush."

The consulting firm said in a research note published in March that the hype stems from hopes the previously neglected resource could be a "gamechanger" in the energy transition.

Exploratory efforts for the low-carbon energy source are currently underway in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Colombia, South Korea and others.

Koloma's Johnson said that, as the industry has "picked up momentum and attention," there's also been a sharper focus on what he described as the "intrinsic benefits" of geologic hydrogen as a primary energy source — rather than a derivative one.

A primary energy source, such as coal, oil, wind or solar, refers to a natural energy source that has not been altered or converted.

"Geologic hydrogen should have a very low carbon impact, but also a tiny land footprint and very low water impact," Johnson said.

Asked about the outlook for the rapidly emerging industry, Johnson said that untapped geologic hydrogen resources in the U.S. could play a significant role in the country's decarbonization efforts.

"Russia and Ukraine were both large exporters [of] hydrogen-derived ammonia, the building block of most modern fertilizer products, and since their conflict began the world has become more aware of the importance of a domestic ammonia supply," Johnson said.

"Geologic hydrogen resources in the U.S. will allow us to scale up our domestic ammonia production and become a net exporter, even as we dramatically drop the carbon footprint of the products," he added.

Hydrogen has long been billed as one of many potential energy sources that could play a significant role in the energy transition, but most of it is produced using fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas through a process that generates significant greenhouse gas emissions.

It's within this context that momentum has been growing over the potential of geologic hydrogen.

Geoffrey Ellis, a research geologist at the Energy Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), told CNBC earlier this year that there could be a vast amount of naturally occurring hydrogen buried in underground reservoirs around the world.

Ellis said that just a small percentage of geologic hydrogen recovery might well be enough to supply all the projected demand for 200 years.

Not everyone's convinced about it's clean energy potential.

The Hydrogen Science Coalition, a group of academics, scientists and engineers seeking to bring an evidence-based view to the role of hydrogen in the energy transition, said in a blog post published on March 14 that geologic hydrogen discoveries currently supply the world with less daily energy than does a single wind turbine.

What's more, the coalition says there are environmental concerns about the extraction process, and transportation and distribution challenges mean geologic hydrogen is not likely to be found where it is most needed.

Koloma's Johnson said that, while that are still many roadblocks to overcome, the company is "very well capitalized, which allow us to take on these challenges the right way, thoughtfully and patiently."

"Koloma is fortunate to have backing from diverse investors — some who are more focused on the technology and data advantages [that] Koloma is building, some who see the massive potential returns of large resource discovery, and others who are most enthusiastic about taking positions around cost advantaged low carbon derivate products that can use geologic hydrogen," Johnson said.

"As with any exploration business and any new technology, there are still many challenges for us to overcome to unlock geologic hydrogen's potential," he added.