Energy

A simple explanation is that we haven’t been looking in the right places with the right tools. Historically, subsurface energy drilling was not targeting hydrogen gas and companies often didn’t account for it during exploration. More importantly, geologic settings where hydrogen generation is likely to occur are not the same places where petroleum is found. There are potentially large amounts of...

Geologic hydrogen is formed through natural processes deep within the Earth. One common way it forms is through a reaction between water and certain iron-rich rocks, a process known as serpentinization. Another common way it forms is through the process of radiolysis, where natural radiation deep in the Earth breaks down water molecules to produce hydrogen. Learn More: USGS Geologic Hydrogen...

Hydrogen is a clean fuel, meaning when it burns, it only produces heat and water as a byproduct. This makes it attractive as an alternative to fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide. Geologic hydrogen has the potential to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy source within the United States and around the world. Learn More: USGS Geologic Hydrogen

Geologic hydrogen, also known as natural hydrogen, is hydrogen gas that is naturally found below the surface of the Earth. Unlike hydrogen produced through industrial processes, geologic hydrogen is sourced by and stored in rocks in the ground, similar to traditional petroleum resources. Learn More: USGS Geologic Hydrogen Geologic Hydrogen Prospectivity Map Explorer

Associated (or associated-dissolved) gas is natural gas that is produced along with crude oil, and typically separated from the oil at the wellhead. In contrast, non-associated gas is produced from a well in conventional gas fields that do not produce crude oil. There is also a third category of natural gas production, continuous (or unconventional) gas, that occurs as basin-centered gas, coal-bed...

This question cannot be answered clearly because the methods used by those organizations to estimate oil and gas resource volumes are often not publicly available to compare step-by-step.  One common reason different organizations get different results is based on what the assessments include. USGS estimates are for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources. The USGS does not...

The USGS regularly re-examines our assessments to see if updated information warrants a reassessment. Sometimes more information is available either from USGS research or industry production, and the USGS decides to conduct a new assessment. Learn more:  USGS Energy Assessments

According to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Table 30), depending on make and model wind turbines are predominantly made of steel (66-79% of total turbine mass); fiberglass, resin or plastic (11-16%); iron or cast iron (5-17%); copper (1%); and aluminum (0-2%). Many turbine components are domestically sourced and manufactured in the United States. According to the Land...

A key challenge facing the wind industry is the potential for turbines to adversely affect wild animals both directly, via collisions, as well as indirectly due to noise pollution, habitat loss, and reduced survival or reproduction. Among the most impacted wildlife are birds and bats, which by eating destructive insects provide billions of dollars of economic benefits to the country’s agricultural...

The number of turbines installed in the U.S. each year varies based on a number of factors, but on average 3,000 turbines have been built in the U.S. each year since 2005. Learn more: Wind Energy U.S. Wind Turbine Database

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains a database of proposed structures that they are evaluating as potential obstructions to airspace. However, an FAA determination of “non-hazard” is just one step of many in the permitting process, and many turbines evaluated by the FAA are never built. Learn more: U.S. Wind Turbine Database

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. home uses 893 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month. Per the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, the mean capacity of wind turbines that achieved commercial operations in 2020 is 2.75 megawatts (MW). At a 42% capacity factor (i.e., the average among recently built wind turbines in the United States, per the 2021 edition of...