29 July, 2025

Martha Henriques Today we look beneath our feet, to a source of clean energy that companies around the world are racing to tap: naturally occurring "white hydrogen". This gas provides potent low-carbon energy, and there's plenty of it about – more than enough to dwarf the world's known fossil gas reserves. Accessing this gas is difficult, but a global race to get to it is heating up, Chloe Farandreports. Plus: the mystery locked in a 1.5-million-year-old ice core.

CLIMATE CONVERSATION The 'white gold' fuel buried in the Earth Taking samples of "white hydrogen" bubbling up from underground in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Credit: Getty Images  When a worker digging a water well dropped a cigarette in western Mali in 1987, it changed the local community's fate. The cigarette lit a source of natural hydrogen – and caused a small explosion. Since then, this naturally occurring "white hydrogen" has been used to produce clean electricity in the village. ‌ There are thought to be massive reserves of white hydrogen globally – around 5.6 trillion tonnes. If just 2% of this could be tapped, it would provide twice as much energy as stored in all proven fossil gas reserves on Earth. ‌ Now, at least 60 companies globally are racing to tap white hydrogen, in what's been described as a "white gold" rush. But who is going to get there first? Click the button below for more. Discover the 'white gold' rush

THE BIG PICTURE How microplastics affect our health Microplastics have found their way to almost every corner of our bodies. Credit: Emmanuel Lafont The microplastic pollution we've created has spread from the clouds to the seafloor. It's also spreading within our bodies – tests have found microplastics cropping up in our saliva, blood, sputum, breast milk, liver, kidneys, spleen, brain and even inside of our bones. What effects are these tiny particles of plastic pollution having on our health?  Read more

CLIMATE QUIZ Start-ups hope that shampoos, shower gels, wine and condiments could soon be widely available in which type of greener packaging? A. Aluminium B. Corn starch C. Earthenware Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.

MORE CLIMATE FROM THE BBC The unlikely origins of the largest ever climate case In 2019, a group of Pacific Island students took a classroom climate idea and turned it into a massive global operation.   Keep reading >‌ How to tackle climate change's turbulence Climate change is creating stronger turbulence. Designers hope innovative techniques will reduce its effects.   Keep reading >‌ Wildfires rage in Greece and Turkey Greece continues to battle major wildfires across the country amid a severe heatwave.   Keep reading >‌

And finally... A core of the planet's oldest ice is about to be analysed for the secrets it holds about the ancient climate. The ice core contains tiny pockets of air, frozen in time from when they were first trapped by snowfall millions of years ago. Understanding the make-up of these bubbles could revolutionise what we know about climate change, researchers say. Georgina Rannard has the story.

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