Cascone, Martina (2025) Moving toward hydrogen: the microbiology of underground hydrogen storage. [Tesi di dottorato]

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Abstract

The global energy transition is at a pivotal juncture, with hydrogen emerging as a transformative, clean energy carrier capable of decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors. Hydrogen’s versatility as fuel, industrial feedstock, and energy storage medium, combined with its zero-emission potential, makes it a cornerstone of a sustainable energy future. However, realizing its full potential requires addressing cost, technological, and infrastructure challenges, particularly for green hydrogen production and Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS). Storing hydrogen in subsurface reservoirs like aquifers or salt caverns can ensure energy reliability, but microbial interactions pose risks. Subsurface microbial communities, utilizing hydrogen in metabolic pathways like methanogenesis and sulfate reduction, can degrade hydrogen purity and infrastructure integrity. Understanding these interactions is crucial to mitigating risks and ensuring storage feasibility. This thesis investigates the intersection of microbiology and hydrogen storage, exploring microbial dynamics, geochemical transformations, and biogeochemical feedback in natural and engineered environments. Chapter 1 Characterizes hydrogenases, enzymes central to microbial hydrogen metabolism, providing a database to predict microbial impacts in UHS. Chapter 2 analyses microbial communities in prospective UHS sites using molecular techniques, revealing site-specific metabolic pathways influencing hydrogen stability. Chapter 3 employs experimental microcosms to simulate hydrogen injection, showing microbial shifts under hydrogen-rich conditions. Chapter 4 examines hydrogenase diversity in natural hydrogen springs, uncovering how geochemical conditions shape microbial adaptation and hydrogenotrophy. This work advances our understanding of microbial hydrogen cycling, with implications for optimizing UHS and prospecting natural hydrogen reservoirs. This contributes actionable insights for a hydrogen-based future, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary strategies to manage microbial risks and leverage natural resources sustainably.

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