Government officials in Zambales have expressed optimism over natural hydrogen gas reserves found in the province and urged immediate preparations to explore and manage the two hydrogen seeps that could provide abundant clean energy and reshape the local economy.
This after Koloma Inc., reputedly the world’s leading natural hydrogen exploration company, was granted exclusive rights by the Philippine government on Thursday, July 23, to explore for native hydrogen here.
The US-based firm also received two service contracts from the government last October for natural hydrogen exploration in Central Luzon, and began a 2D seismic survey at the Los Fuegos Eternos natural gas seep site in Bugallon, Pangasinan, on July 10.
Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the provincial government began pushing for the development of local hydrogen sources and assessing long-term impacts of the project after the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) identified significant hydrogen sources in San Antonio and Botolan towns in June last year.
The governor said local officials, including San Antonio Mayor Arvin Antipolo and Botolan Mayor Jun Omar Ebdane, see Zambales at the forefront of the government’s drive to develop alternative energy sources, as well as better economic prospects for the province, once the hydrogen reserves are tapped.
‘If Saudi Arabia became a rich country [because of oil reserves], why can’t we with hydrogen, as long as we manage it properly?’ the governor wondered aloud during a stakeholders’ meeting organized by DOST-PNRI on June 3 in San Antonio town.
‘This is not just about discovering a resource. It is about preparing Zambales for a cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable future,’ Ebdane added.
Highest outgassing in the world
THE local gas seeps, also known as ‘outgassing,’ were identified in a groundbreaking study of native geologic hydrogen conducted by the DOST-PNRI under the Hydrogen SEEP, or Surface Exploration and Evaluation of Native Hydrogen Project.
Geologic hydrogen, also known as ‘white’ hydrogen, refers to naturally occurring hydrogen trapped underground and formed through the interaction of water with iron-rich rocks in ophiolite belts.
Ophiolites, which are formed by the uplifting of the Earth’s crust, are known to act as ‘chemical reactors’ for producing white hydrogen through serpentinization. This chemical reaction removes oxygen from the water and locks it into the rock minerals, thus releasing hydrogen gas.
Dr. Karmina A. Aquino, a geological chemist and a Science and Technology fellow who leads the Hydrogen SEEP team, said they recorded at least 808 tons of natural surface outgassing per year from the Nagsasa seep in San Antonio alone.
The Nagsasa flow rate reportedly surpassed the previous outgassing record of 200 tons per year from the Bulqizë chromite mine in Albania, where geologists discovered 80 percent pure hydrogen gas bubbling from underground pools in 2024.
Even with its recorded flow rate of just 200 tons, the geologic fault under the Albanian mine may contain a massive reserve of 5,000 to 50,000 tons of hydrogen, scientists said.
At the outset, Aquino estimated that surface outgassing from the Nagsasa seep may generate from 12,861 to 15,185 megawatt-hour (MWh) per year, which is equivalent to 42 percent of the estimated 36,600 MWh demand of host town San Antonio.
Tapping this freely available energy resource would be beneficial for the communities near the seep, which is currently not connected to the grid, she also said.
Economic potential
THE discovery of white hydrogen reserves in Zambales sets the stage for the development of an indigenous clean energy program amid mounting calls to steer away from dirty fossil fuels and transition to energy sources without much carbon footprint.
As a naturally occurring resource, native geological hydrogen fits the bill. It is highly prized as a clean, primary energy source with production costs far cheaper than manufactured ‘green’ or ‘gray’ hydrogen.
Experts believe that natural ‘white’ hydrogen, which is extracted directly from the ground and bypasses the industrial electrolysis or gasification stages, could potentially be produced at under $1 per kilogram.
Currently, ‘gray’ hydrogen, which is the most widely used form today, only costs from $1.50 to $2.50/kg to produce.
However, processing gray hydrogen by breaking down biomethane gas to yield a hydrogen-rich mixture of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide leaves a staggering carbon footprint, as from 9 to 12 tons of carbon dioxide is released into the air for each ton of gray hydrogen produced.
‘Green’ hydrogen, on the other hand, is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis using renewable energy like solar or wind.
While no carbon emissions are generated in this process, production cost is usually high because it requires from 50 to 55 Kilowatt-hours of electricity to produce just one kilogram of green hydrogen.
According to data from Energy Solutions Intelligence (ESI), which monitors the energy market, green hydrogen is produced in the United States at a cost of from $4.50 to $6.50/kg and from $5.50 to $7.50/kg in Europe.
In the Middle East and North Africa production is lower at $2.80 to $4.20/kg because of cheap solar power purchase agreements and subsidized capital, the ESI said.
White is way better: cheaper, zero carbon
With cheaper production cost and zero carbon footprint, white hydrogen promises to be the energy source of the future.
According to estimates by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), there is approximately 5 million megatons of geologic hydrogen in the world.
Even if only 2 percent of this could be recovered, successful extraction would produce about 100,000 megatons, which could supply the projected global energy demands for more than 200 years, the USGS said.
Further study and exploration
WHILE the DOST-PNRI study identified several sources of geologic hydrogen in the Philippines, further exploration is needed to ascertain the commercial viability of tapping these energy sources, experts said.
Koloma, Inc., which is expanding its hydrogen exploration program into Zambales, described the Philippines as having ‘some of the best-documented natural hydrogen data in the world, making it one of the most promising settings for exploration.’
‘A discovery of commercial-scale natural hydrogen would give the Philippines a domestic, primary energy source and position it as a regional energy hub,’ Koloma said in a statement on Thursday.
The DOST-PNRI’s Hydrogen SEEP team first measured the outgassing rate of natural hydrogen in Zambales because it is more accessible than the other sites like Palawan.
‘In the Philippines, there are known sites, and we know there is hydrogen there, but we don’t know how much we can get and if it’s worth pursuing and if it’s economical,’ Aquino said following the release of the DOST-PNRI study last year.
‘We knew this for so long. Actually, the Philippines is one of the original sites for geologic hydrogen, as early as 1980s or earlier,’ Aquino added.
Another scientific study published by the USGS in 1989 had also identified Zambales as the location of the one of the world’s best-exposed and least-disturbed ophiolite belts.
The Zambales Ophiolite Complex (ZOC) is said to span about 160 kilometers from north to south of the province and is divided into three massifs, which, in geological terms, are distinct, independent sections of the Earth’s crust defined by faults.
These massifs, which contain large, solid blocks of highly compacted rock that are highly resistant to erosion and folding, are found in the towns of Masinloc, Cabangan, and Antonio.
Long-term preparations
GIVEN the extensive studies required to finally exploit local hydrogen reserves, Gov. Ebdane has called for the development of local expertise in preparations for the scientific development of native hydrogen.
‘If Zambales will play a major role in this field, we need local geologists, researchers, engineers, and professionals who can help us understand, protect, and develop this resource properly,’ the governor pointed out.
San Antonio Mayor Arvin Antipolo, meanwhile, said the town government has coordinated with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOST to validate and study the hydrogen deposits at Nagsasa.
In a media briefing in April, Antipolo said that developing the local hydrogen sources could reshape the municipality’s economic future.
For this, he said the LGU is also pushing for key hydrogen development infrastructure to be located within the town for the LGU to generate revenues through real property taxes and strengthen its Special Education Fund.
Antipolo also said they have also institutionalized preparations for the hydrogen project by creating the San Antonio Green and Renewable Energy Council (Sagrec) and the San Antonio Green and Renewable Energy Investment Board (Sagreib).
He said these bodies are expected to facilitate policy direction, attract investors, and ensure that infrastructure developments related to the development of the Nagsasa seep will directly benefit the host community.