Despite cost and timescale headwinds, hydrogen remains essential for a clean energy future: there is no real alternative for sectors like aviation, fertiliser or green steel. Kiko’s investment in Mantle8, alongside our friends at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is a continuation of our commitment to building the hydrogen economy.
Natural hydrogen (or “white hydrogen”) is an emerging sector, which holds immense potential for revolutionizing clean energy.
The Potential of Natural Hydrogen
Natural hydrogen is getting attention as a cleantech game-changer for several reasons:
- Abundance and Accessibility: There is increasing scientific evidence that it is abundant, with a recent Science1 article estimating potential reserves larger than natural gas. Natural hydrogen is produced continuously through reaction of iron-containing mantle rock with water, and the Mantle8 team has developed technology to identify and image large sub-surface reservoirs where hydrogen accumulates. Unlike other production methods – which require energy input to break chemical bonds – the gas can be directly tapped from these reservoirs as molecular hydrogen.
- Environmental Impact: Extraction of natural hydrogen should emit minimal greenhouse gases and does not require injection of water or other production fluids.
- Cost-Effectiveness: This could be the lowest cost form of hydrogen. Traditional grey hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels, costs less than $2 per kilogram on average, while green hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity, is currently around three times this. Mantle8’s exploration technology aims to achieve <$1 per kilogram, a cost estimate that is backed up by recent work by Stanford.
- Energy Security: With the global push towards energy independence and security, natural hydrogen offers the potential for secure and local clean energy. This is particularly important here in Europe, where the company has estimated €260bn of accessible resource.
Mantle8’s Technological Edge
Mantle8 is at the forefront of the sector and has proprietary technology arising from 20 years of scientific research. We believe that founder Manu and his team have the leading tech stack globally for natural hydrogen exploration; it creates highly accurate predictive models for detection, combining geology, geophysics, and geochemistry data to visualize the entire hydrogen-generating system. Their technology is highly scalable, with the potential to assess and explore natural hydrogen reservoirs across the entire planet.
Mantle8’s mission aligns perfectly with our commitment to supporting innovative and sustainable energy solutions. By investing in Mantle8, we are not only contributing to the development of a clean and affordable energy source but also supporting a company with a strong foundation in geology and a proven track record of success.
Conclusion
With its cutting-edge technology, cost-effective process, and low carbon footprint, Mantle8 has the potential to become a key player in the clean hydrogen sector. We are excited to be part of this journey and look forward to the positive impact it will have on the environment and the energy industry.
