A new process, successfully tested in laboratories and on the fields, has the potential to extract hydrogen from abundant underground resources, like the Oil Sands in Canada, while leaving the carbon dioxide (Co2) emissions below the surface.

Grant Strem, founder of Proton Technologies, said that with this new technology, hydrogen production costs can be 90% cheaper than the traditional way of production. “Everyone is looking for a large-scale, low-cost, carbon-less energy solution and we think we have it.”

While the technology seems to be a step forward in the right direction on the quest for a greenhouse gas-free, low-cost energy source, there are still many questions to be answered. 

Doctor David Layzell, from the Canadian Energy System Analysis Research, thinks the big challenge for Proton Technologies will be to demonstrate how stable the remaining CO2 left underground will be. “They are going to be converting the bitumen or the heavy oil into hydrogen. How secure is that co2. And for how long. So that is probably one of the challenges.”