Bill Gates-backed startup on the global gold rush for buried hydrogen

Koloma, a U.S.-based clean fuel startup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, says it wants to use expertise that has traditionally served the hydrocarbon industry to power a global gold rush for buried hydrogen.

It comes as buzz continues to build over the clean energy potential of geologic hydrogen, a long-overlooked resource that advocates say could play a pivotal role in the shift away from fossil fuels.

Geologic hydrogen — sometimes known as white, gold or natural hydrogen — refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth’s surface. It is thought to be produced by high-temperature reactions between water and iron-rich minerals.

Pete Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Koloma, told CNBC that geologic hydrogen is fundamentally an exploration and production business.

“We can use expertise and service providers that have traditionally served the oil, gas, and mining industries and quickly put them to work in driving the discovery of carbon free-resources. Leveraging and modifying what already exists will allow us to mature the industry faster,” he said.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Koloma has raised more than $305 million since it was founded just a few years ago, the company told CNBC.

The startup’s backers include U.S. venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, Amazon‘s Climate Pledge Fund, United Airlines and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015.

In turn, Breakthrough Energy’s investors include Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Virgin Group’s Richard Branson and Alibaba’s Jack Ma.

A dramatic upswing in the number of companies actively searching for geologic hydrogen deposits in recent years prompted analysts at Rystad Energy to describe the pursuit as a “white gold rush.”

The consulting firm said in a research note published in March that the hype stems from hopes the previously neglected resource could be a “gamechanger” in the energy transition.

Exploratory efforts for the low-carbon energy source are currently underway in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Colombia, South Korea and others.

Koloma’s Johnson said that, as the industry has “picked up momentum and attention,” there’s also been a sharper focus on what he described as the “intrinsic benefits” of geologic hydrogen as a primary energy source — rather than a derivative one.

A primary energy source, such as coal, oil, wind or solar, refers to a natural energy source that has not been altered or converted.

“Geologic hydrogen should have a very low carbon…