Hydrogen gas formed by natural processes in the subsurface of mountain ranges could represent a promising source of clean energy. A new international study led by Unil and GFZ shows that erosion plays a key and complex role in the formation and accumulation of this natural resource. This research confirms that the Pyrenees and the Alps could constitute key targets for natural hydrogen exploration.What if mountain ranges such as the Alps or the Pyrenees concealed a source of clean energy beneath our feet? In 2025, a widely publicized study published in Science Advances and coordinated by the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences showed that certain mountain belts could provide favourable conditions for the formation and storage of natural hydrogen (H₂).
Now, a new international study published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth builds directly on this work, highlighting the decisive role of rock erosion in both the formation and potential reduction of these hydrogen accumulations. “Unexpectedly, erosion turns out to be a key and ambivalent factor in natural hydrogen production,” says Frank Zwaan, lead author of the study, formerly at GFZ and now a researcher at the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment of the University of Lausanne (Unil), with visitor status at the University of Fribourg. “This research supports the view that the Pyrenees and the Alps are key targets for natural H2 exploration.”
