Michigan is on the hunt for an untapped source of clean energy called geologic hydrogen gas.
Geologic hydrogen can form deep underground under the right circumstances, when water interacts with certain kinds of iron-rich rock, for example, or when water molecules are exposed to the radioactive decay of rocks.
Michigan's geology make it a prime candidate to find potential reservoirs of hydrogen, which is carbon-free. The state rests over part of the Mid-Continent Rift, which may have produced many of the right kind of rock formations to produce the hydrogen and then seal it underground.
The state of Michigan plans to spend $7.5 million in seed money to support research, exploration and test well drilling to see if geologic hydrogen exists in large amounts underground. The seed money announcement follows Governor Gretchen Whitmer's January, 2026 executive order establishing the "Michigan Geologic Hydrogen Exploration and Preparedness Initiative."
Brian Ellis, a University of Michigan associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and co-director of the research collaboration MI Hydrogen, said the field at this point is highly speculative — but it also has tremendous potential for unlocking a carbon-free gas to power transportation and manufacturing.
"This is a good time to be making investments in this science, trying to figure out whether Michigan really has the resource potentially existing below our feet, and can we go out and find it," he said.
