“White” hydrogen: deposits discovered in Aquitaine, Lorraine and the Pyrenees

Natural, or native, hydrogen deposits have been detected in several regions of France, including Aquitaine, the Pyrenees and Lorraine, although it is not yet known whether it is exploitable there, either technically or economically, the Ministry of Economy and Industry confirmed on Monday, June 30.

"Native hydrogen flows have been detected on the surface in various French regions," Bercy said, based on a summary report from the French Institute of Petroleum and New Energies (IFPEN) received on Monday. "The Aquitaine Basin, the Pyrenean foothills and the Lorraine coal basin appear to be areas with potential in mainland France," it added.

Until now, almost all of the hydrogen used worldwide for refining petroleum products has been extracted from natural gas (or methane, whose chemical formula is CH4) by the gas or petrochemical industry using a process that emits a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere and contributes to global warming. This is called grey hydrogen .

A whole competing industrial ecosystem is struggling to establish itself on a global scale to produce so-called "green" hydrogen, without emitting CO2, by breaking the water molecule (H20) with electricity, using a water electrolysis process.

Called "white hydrogen" , native or natural hydrogen is a third category, naturally present in the subsoil in a gaseous state. "As a promising and sovereign energy source, the native hydrogen present in the subsoil of our territory could become a major asset for French energy sovereignty" , the ministry believes.

However, "the studies devoted to it are still few in number and will need to be completed," warns the document, which considers exploratory drilling "necessary" to "estimate the real potential of the identified areas of interest." Bercy recalls that France "was one of the first countries to recognize native hydrogen as a mining substance via the revision of the mining code in 2022."

However, this gas remains one of the most difficult to capture, transport and store because hydrogen is the smallest and most volatile of the molecules listed in the periodic table of elements.

A summary study was entrusted to IFPEN in April 2024 to identify “areas with high potential for native hydrogen on French territory” .

The report, of which AFP has not yet obtained a copy, is the result of work by IFPEN with the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), and several universities (University of Lorraine, University of Montpellier, Bordeaux INP, Grenoble, Pau and Pays de l'Adour), and the Institute of Global Physics.

To better understand the subsoil and accelerate exploration, two exclusive research permits were also granted in the Landes and the Pyrenees, published in the Official Journal of March 29, 2025.