This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in northern Michigan.
Michigan is investing $7.5 million to research geologic hydrogen — a clean energy source buried beneath the state that experts say could help power a transition away from fossil fuels. That’s because when hydrogen fuel burns, the only byproduct is water. There are no greenhouse gases or other harmful air pollutants emitted, unlike fossil fuels.
If used as a fuel or in fuel cells, a large store of hydrogen could help clean up the state’s high-emissions industries, such as trucking and steel as well as cement manufacturing, said Kevin Mehren, director of the Michigan Infrastructure Office. Energy production, including at natural gas plants, and transportation are the top sources of greenhouse gas emissions in both Michigan and the country at large.
Geologic hydrogen “is a major decarbonization tool, I think one of the strongest that we have come across,” Mehren said. “It has massive potential across all aspects of our economy, just to fill gaps and provide a new energy source for us.”
A 2025 study from the U.S. Geological Survey mapped out areas around the country with a lot of potential for buried hydrogen, with Michigan on the higher end. The study prompted Governor Gretchen Whitmer in January to direct state resources into more research, from which the recent funding announcement stemmed. Companies in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa — states also highlighted in the USGS survey — are currently drilling for geologic hydrogen, according to Sandia National Laboratories.
