Jakarta—The Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) announced a surprising finding of natural hydrogen potential in Central Sulawesi.
“The eternal fire of Tanjung Api and hot springs in the One Pute area have been proven to contain natural hydrogen gas,” Head of the Geological Survey Center of the Geological Agency, Edy Slameto, said in an official statement on Tuesday, June 25. He said, the find was an achievement in Indonesia’s global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replace fossil fuels with cleaner energy sources.
Climate change is a major challenge facing humanity, with rising global temperatures, extreme weather, rising sea levels, and ecosystem changes becoming serious problems. One proposed solution is developing and utilising clean energy, such as hydrogen, whose potential is becoming increasingly attractive after discovering natural hydrogen in Central Sulawesi.
Hydrogen fuel is recognised as a revolutionary clean energy source, producing no greenhouse gas emissions. However, conventional hydrogen production is often expensive and requires large energy consumption. The discovery of natural hydrogen from geological processes in Central Sulawesi opens up exciting new opportunities.
“Until now, natural hydrogen could not accumulate in nature. However, discovering natural hydrogen accumulation in Bourekebogou, Mali, broke that assumption. This prompted a race to find geologically accumulated hydrogen in various parts of the world,” Slameto said.
He said natural hydrogen can be produced from several geological processes, including “serpentinization.” This process occurs when ultramafic rocks react with water at a certain temperature and pressure, producing serpentine minerals and hydrogen gas.
“These ultramafic rocks are part of ophiolites, fossils of oceanic crust that were raised to the surface due to tectonic processes millions of years ago,” Slameto added.
Based on an initial survey by the EMR’s Geological Agency, natural hydrogen potential was found in Central Sulawesi, which has the most extensive distribution of ultramafic rocks in Indonesia. In 2023, the Geological Agency conducted a preliminary survey in the One Pute Jaya area, Morowali Regency, and Tanjung Api, Tojo Una-Una Regency, Central Sulawesi, to identify the potential for natural hydrogen. The survey results were surprising and good news for the future of clean energy.
“No one would have thought that the eternal fire at Tanjung Api, which the Dutch recorded in 1869 (previously named “Kaap Api”) and the hot spring location commonly visited for tourism, would contain evidence of natural hydrogen on the surface,” said Slameto.
He said the eternal fire at Tanjung Api and the hot springs in the One Pute area are proven to contain natural hydrogen gas. The gas bubbles that appear under the surface of the sea and the spring pools are hydrogen gas that comes from the serpentinization process that occurs under the earth’s surface.
“It is estimated that the emergence of hydrogen gas is related to the Balantak Fault and Matano Fault, which are the pathways for gas migration to the surface. This phenomenon caused the hydrogen gas to escape in Tanjung Api and appear with the One Pute hot spring,” Slameto explained. (Hartatik)
