Michigan invests millions to study potential clean energy source buried underground

Michigan is spending $7.5 million to research geologic hydrogen, a naturally occurring fuel source state officials say could be buried beneath the northern Lower Peninsula and other edges of the Michigan Basin. The funding follows a 2025 U.S. Geological Survey study flagging Michigan as a promising site, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directed state resources toward the research in January.

Officials like Kevin Mehren of the Michigan Infrastructure Office describe the resource as a potential tool for decarbonizing trucking, steel, and cement production, since hydrogen fuel burns to produce only water. Researchers hope existing oil and gas well infrastructure in northern Michigan can double as a shortcut, mining old drilling data for hydrogen signals rather than starting from scratch.

Despite the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations and push for oil and gas expansion, researchers like University of Michigan's Brian Ellis are hopeful federal money could still follow, noting the Department of Energy funded about $20 million in geologic hydrogen research in 2024. Mehren frames the pitch as bipartisan by borrowing the administration's own rhetoric — drilling, just for a zero-emission resource instead.

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