France did identify natural hydrogen in groundwater in the Lorraine basin, but the evidence does not support calling it a proven commercial reserve or valuing it at $92 trillion. The often-cited figure of up to 46 million tonnes is an early, model-based estimate of potential—not a certified quantity that can be extracted and sold.
What was discovered near Folschviller?
Researchers were investigating gases associated with the former Lorraine coal basin while looking for methane. In late 2022, an in-situ probe detected natural hydrogen dissolved in groundwater near Folschviller. CNRS reported a measured concentration exceeding 15% at about 1,100 metres in its 2023 account.
A 2023 account by researchers Jacques Pironon and Philippe de Donato reported 14% hydrogen at 1,100 metres and 20% at 1,250 metres. These are readings reported at different depths by the respective sources, not a single settled figure. The researchers’ projections of higher concentrations deeper underground were based on simulations, not direct measurements at 3,000 metres in the original well.
Is the 46-million-tonne figure a proven reserve?
No. Pironon and de Donato said the deposit could contain up to 46 million tonnes, based on gas data at 1,100 metres and modeling. CNRS likewise described approximately 46 million tonnes as an initial simulation estimate and said the conjectures needed confirmation.
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The distinction matters because an estimated geological resource is not the same as a proven reserve: it does not establish how much hydrogen can be recovered, at what rate, or at what cost. In 2024, the French government said national mapping of natural hydrogen remained to be done and that both resource potential and exploitability were largely unknown. It described the estimate of 95% hydrogen at 3,000 metres in Moselle as theoretical, noting that the deepest wells then made in the area were about 1,000 metres.
Is the deposit worth $92 trillion?
The cited institutional, government and researcher-authored sources do not establish a $92 trillion valuation. They provide no sale price, recoverable volume, production rate, extraction cost or project economics from which that figure could be verified. Multiplying a modeled mass estimate by an assumed hydrogen price would not demonstrate the value of a commercially recoverable deposit.
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What has subsequent drilling shown?
In a March 23, 2026 announcement, La Française de l’Énergie (FDE) said its PTH-2 well reached 3,655 metres and confirmed natural hydrogen in numerous intervals. The company reported collecting 58 samples during drilling. It described further in-situ measurements, testing water-hydrogen separation tools and appraisal wells as next steps to assess the resource’s extent and volume, as well as the technical and economic conditions for possible development.
Those are company-reported drilling results and planned work, not an independent certification of reserves. The announcement advances the characterization of the site but does not establish a commercially recoverable quantity, production, or monetary value.
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- The Hydrogen fuel trolley uses zinc particles and food grade citric acid to synthesize hydrogen, and then uses the produced hydrogen and air to generate electricity to drive the trolley.
- During the experiment, please use 80℃ hot water for Combination reaction (if the water temperature is low, the amount of hydrogen and air pressure from the Combination reaction are insufficient, the fuel cell cannot be used for power generation), and then take off the plug of the vent pipe at the lower part of the fuel cell, release the gas in the rubber hose immediately, and then plug it back immediately, so that only pure hydrogen and air are in the fuel cell, so that the fuel cell can generate hydrogen air power.
What remains unknown about extraction?
The presence of hydrogen underground is only one part of the commercial question. The available sources do not establish how much of the Lorraine resource can be recovered, whether it can be produced at a commercially viable rate, what extraction and separation would cost, or whether development will proceed. Appraisal and measurement work would need to resolve those uncertainties before a commercial reserve or project valuation could be substantiated.
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- 1. Electrical part: motor with wind shoulder, ammeter, voltmeter.
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- 5.Then connect the 6V-12V DC power supply to the positive and negative wiring of the water electrolyzer part, and connect the transportation line of the electrical part to the electric energy after 2-3 minutes, the small motor starts to work, and the current is displayed on the current and voltmeter. Positive value.
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