Unconventional Fracking
The New Frontier Is Hydrogen and Geothermal
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น.
Once considered โunconventional,โ hydraulic fracturing is now standard practice in North American oil and gas.
But the same techniques that revolutionized fossil fuel production are now ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป.
In geothermal, fracking has enabled ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ (๐๐๐ฆ), where companies like Fervo and AltaRock Energy are creating artificial reservoirs in hot, dry rock to tap thermal energy where conventional geothermal doesnโt work (see the map below).
In hydrogen, weโre seeing ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป (๐ฆ๐๐). Companies like GeoRedox are using subsurface stimulation to accelerate natural reactions between water and iron-rich rock, producing clean hydrogen directly from the Earth.
Fracking, what was once a defining feature of โunconventionalโ oil and gas may now be t๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ถ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฎ๐?