Kansas state geologist outlines hydrogen pathways, storage potential and CO2 safety measures

Jake Palbus, director and state geologist for the Kansas Geological Survey, told the Senate Committee on Utilities that Kansas could produce hydrogen through multiple pathways and store it in the subsurface, potentially positioning the state as a regional hydrogen hub.

Palbus said hydrogen production options include steam methane reforming (the current dominant method), electrolysis powered by wind and solar, and emerging “geologic hydrogen” produced from deep crustal rocks. He also described bedded salt formations in central and western Kansas as a promising, low-permeability medium for storing gaseous hydrogen at scale.

Those technical attributes matter because hydrogen has a wide range of industrial uses, Palbus said: combustion fuels (including aviation demonstrations by manufacturers), fuel cells for stationary manufacturing and heavy transport, chemical and refining uses, and as the feedstock for anhydrous ammonia used in fertilizer. He noted Panasonic’s use of hydrogen fuel cells at an existing plant as an illustration of industrial demand.

“Hydrogen energy is gonna present opportunities for the state of…