Happy TL;DR Tuesday! Today’s TL;DR Shorts is from Dr Etosha Cave, a mechanical engineer who shares with us her optimism around the technical solutions for climate change.
Dr Cave is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Twelve, a chemical technology company that is working on converting excess carbon dioxide into useful materials such as sustainable fuels and plastics. As a technologist, she is excited about the presence of geologic hydrogen; that is, hydrogen gas found in its natural form beneath Earth’s surface. Could hydrogen be the answer to climate change, or maybe form one part of the collective puzzle that we as humanity have to solve?
We have recently discovered that hydrogen in nature is more widespread than previously thought and has potential as a renewable energy source. The Bourakebougou natural hydrogen wells in Mali offer a promising solution for producing cheap and green hydrogen. The residents of Bourakebougou in Mali are the only people in the world who get their electricity by burning natural hydrogen. The reservoirs are primarily dolomitic carbonate and porous sandstone, with the presence of hydrogen detected using a neutron tool. The hydrogen reservoir is a dynamic system that is continuously recharged with H2-rich gas.
Dr Cave is also bullish on advances in other areas of climate technology, like nuclear, energy efficiency, and low-carbon fuels. The great news from a research point of view is that publications associated with Sustainable Development Goal Number 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and Sustainable Development Goals Number 13: Climate Action, are growing year on year. With minds like Dr Cave’s at the helm, it is hard not to share her optimism on humanity’s ability to right our previous wrongs.
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