To: stockman_scott who wrote (2658 ) 4/15/2002 7:19:18 PM From: Scoobah Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 32591 THE END OF THE AGE OF OIL? NASA CLAIMS EXISTENCE OF DEEP RESERVOIRS OF NATURAL HYDROGEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ch2bc.org by Robert Matthews Electronic Telegraph April 14, 2002 THE world's energy problems could be over after the discovery of vast quantities of hydrogen gas, widely regarded as the most promising alternative to today's dwindling stocks of fossil fuels, in the Earth's crust. The find by scientists has stunned energy experts, who believe that it could provide virtually limitless supplies of clean fuel for cars, homes and industry. ...Scientists at Nasa, the American space agency, have found that the Earth's crust is a vast natural reservoir of hydrogen which has become trapped in ancient rocks. The team made its discovery while trying to explain how bacteria live many miles below the Earth's surface. Such bugs have no access to sunlight, forcing them to rely on another source of energy for life. Scientists suspected that hydrogen was the source. According to Professor Friedemann Freund and colleagues at Nasa's Ames Research Centre, in California, the gas is produced when water molecules trapped inside molten rock break down to release hydrogen. "In the top 20km of the Earth's crust, the conditions are right to produce a nearly inexhaustible supply of hydrogen," said Prof Freund. Studies by the team of common rock types such as granite and olivine have revealed extraordinarily high levels of trapped hydrogen. Prof Freund told The Telegraph that his team had "tantalising evidence" that as much as 1,000 litres of hydrogen may be trapped in each cubic metre of rock. ...The most promising source of the hydrogen may be geological "traps" similar to those now drilled for natural gas. Prof Freund said: "One of these natural hydrogen fields is already known to exist in North America, and extends from Canada to Kansas."