25 MAY 2026

As the world accelerates toward net-zero targets, the pressure to find scalable climate solutions is intensifying. Renewable energy is growing rapidly, electric vehicles are becoming mainstream, and industries are under increasing pressure to reduce emissions. Yet one major challenge still remains unresolved – how can the world decarbonise heavy industries that cannot simply run on renewable electricity alone? Hydrogen has emerged as one of the strongest answers. It can power steel plants, shipping, aviation, chemicals, and industrial manufacturing without directly producing carbon emissions.

But producing clean hydrogen at scale remains difficult, expensive, and energy intensive. Now, scientists and climate innovators are exploring a breakthrough that could fundamentally reshape the future of energy and carbon removal at the same time. The idea is both simple and revolutionary – inject carbon dioxide deep underground into reactive rocks, permanently turn the carbon into stone, and potentially generate clean hydrogen in the process. Researchers believe the same geological systems could even produce geothermal energy, creating a rare triple-benefit climate technology capable of:

• Permanently storing carbon dioxide
• Producing low-carbon hydrogen
• Generating renewable underground heat energy

What once sounded like science fiction is now attracting serious global investment, research, and commercial attention. For the UAE and Gulf economies positioning themselves as future leaders in hydrogen and sustainable energy, this emerging technology could become one of the most strategically important climate opportunities of the coming decades.

A New Era of Underground Climate Technology

For decades, underground geology was associated almost entirely with fossil fuel extraction. Oil fields, gas reserves, and mining operations shaped global industrialisation and powered modern economies. But climate innovation is beginning to transform how humanity views the Earth beneath its surface. Scientists are now treating underground rock formations not as sources of emissions, but as tools for climate restoration. Certain rocks rich in magnesium, calcium, and iron naturally react with carbon dioxide when exposed to water under specific temperature and pressure conditions. During this reaction, carbon dioxide transforms into solid carbonate minerals, effectively becoming rock permanently. This process is known as carbon mineralisation.

Unlike conventional carbon capture and storage methods, where gaseous CO2 remains trapped underground under pressure, mineralisation permanently locks carbon into solid form, dramatically reducing the risks of future leakage. At the same time, another natural geological reaction occurring within some rock formations can release hydrogen gas. This naturally occurring hydrogen – often called white hydrogen or geologic hydrogen – is now becoming one of the fastest-growing areas of clean energy research globally. If both processes can eventually operate together at industrial scale, underground geological systems could simultaneously remove emissions while producing clean fuel. That changes the economics and climate potential entirely.

Iceland Became the Global Proof of   Concept

One of the world’s most influential examples of carbon mineralisation is taking place in Iceland through the work of Carbfix. The company developed a groundbreaking process that captures carbon dioxide, dissolves it in water, and injects it into underground basalt rock formations. Scientists initially believed mineralisation underground would take hundreds or even thousands of years.

Instead, the results stunned the climate science community. Research from Iceland demonstrated that approximately 95% of the injected carbon dioxide mineralised into solid rock within less than two years. That discovery transformed the credibility of geological carbon storage worldwide.

Today, the Carbfix project near Iceland’s Hellisheiði geothermal power station is widely regarded as one of the most advanced real-world demonstrations of permanent carbon mineralisation anywhere on Earth. The project integrates geothermal energy, carbon capture, and underground storage into one connected sustainability system. It proved that carbon does not simply have to be stored underground temporarily – it can become stone permanently.

The Rise of White Hydrogen

At the same time carbon mineralisation projects are gaining momentum, another underground energy revolution is beginning to unfold. Scientists are increasingly studying naturally occurring underground hydrogen deposits that form through geological reactions deep within the Earth. This hydrogen forms when water reacts with iron-rich rocks through a process called serpentinisation. For years, naturally occurring hydrogen was largely ignored by the energy industry. Now, many researchers believe the Earth may contain vast untapped reserves capable of transforming the future hydrogen economy. Unlike green hydrogen, which requires enormous renewable electricity infrastructure and large electrolysis systems, white hydrogen may already exist underground naturally. That gives it enormous economic potential.

Types of Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen Type	Production Method	Environmental Impact
Grey Hydrogen	Natural gas reforming	High emissions
Blue Hydrogen	Fossil fuels with carbon capture	Reduced emissions
Green Hydrogen	Renewable-powered electrolysis	Near-zero emissions
White Hydrogen	Naturally occurring geological hydrogen	Potentially ultra-low emissions

The possibility of combining carbon mineralisation with hydrogen extraction has now become one of the most exciting areas in climate technology research. If successful, future underground systems could remove carbon while simultaneously producing clean industrial fuel.

The Companies Already Driving the Future

Several pioneering companies and organisations are already advancing carbon mineralisation and geological hydrogen technologies around the world.

Companies Leading Underground Climate Innovation

Company	Core Focus	Region
Carbfix	Permanent CO2 mineralisation in basalt rocks	Iceland
44.01	Turning CO2 into stone using peridotite formations	Oman & UAE
Climeworks	Direct air carbon capture systems	Switzerland & Iceland
Koloma	Underground natural hydrogen exploration	United States
Gold Hydrogen	White hydrogen resource development	Australia
Helios Aragon	Natural hydrogen exploration	Spain

Among them, 44.01 has become especially significant for the Middle East sustainability ecosystem. Named after the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, the company focuses on using peridotite rock formations in Oman and the Gulf region to permanently mineralise carbon underground. Its work is attracting international attention because the Middle East contains  some of the world’s most promising geological formations for permanent carbon removal.

Why This Matters for the UAE and Gulf Economies

The Gulf region is standing at the centre of one of the most important energy transformations in modern history. For decades, Middle Eastern economies powered global industrial growth through oil and gas exports. Today, many of those same nations are rapidly repositioning themselves as leaders of the clean energy transition. The UAE in particular has emerged as one of the region’s most ambitious sustainability-driven economies, investing heavily in:

• Hydrogen infrastructure
• Carbon capture and storage systems
• Sustainable aviation fuel
• Renewable electricity projects
• Industrial decarbonisation
• Net-zero urban development

From Masdar City to large-scale solar investments and hydrogen partnerships, the country is steadily building an economy designed not only for energy exports, but for long-term climate resilience. Now, emerging underground climate technologies could open an entirely new chapter. The geological conditions across Oman, Saudi Arabia, and parts of the UAE contain mineral-rich rock formations that may be highly suitable for large-scale carbon mineralisation. These underground formations could eventually become some of the world’s most valuable natural climate assets. That creates a powerful possibility for the region. The Middle East may not only export energy in the future – it may export low-carbon industrial systems, carbon removal expertise, and next-generation hydrogen technologies to the rest of the world. For economies seeking to balance sustainability with industrial competitiveness, this shift could become transformational.

The Economics Could Reshape the Hydrogen Industry

One of the biggest obstacles facing carbon capture technologies globally has always been profitability. Capturing carbon dioxide is expensive. Transporting it is expensive. Storing it underground is expensive. Many projects struggle because permanent carbon storage alone often generates limited direct revenue. But when hydrogen production enters the equation, the economics begin to change dramatically. Instead of functioning as a single-purpose climate solution, underground mineralisation systems could become multi-layered energy platforms capable of generating several revenue streams simultaneously.

Potential Integrated Revenue Streams

Climate Technology Function	Potential Economic Value
Permanent CO2 storage	Carbon credits and industrial decarbonisation
Hydrogen production	Clean fuel exports and industrial energy
Geothermal energy	Renewable electricity generation
Heat recovery	Industrial heat supply
Carbon removal services	Climate compliance and ESG markets

This integrated model could significantly improve financial viability while accelerating industrial decarbonisation at scale. The timing is also critical. The global hydrogen economy is projected to become one of the largest emerging energy markets of the century. Industry analysts estimate hydrogen-related investments could exceed USD 1 trillion globally by 2050 as countries compete to secure future clean fuel supply chains. For Gulf nations already investing aggressively in hydrogen infrastructure, underground geological hydrogen could become both an economic and strategic advantage.

The Next Big Climate Race Is Underground

For years, the clean energy transition focused largely on what happens above the surface.

Solar farms expanded across deserts.
Wind turbines transformed coastlines.
Electric vehicles reshaped transportation.
Smart cities became symbols of sustainability.

But now, attention is rapidly shifting below ground. Geology is increasingly being viewed as one of the most powerful climate tools available. Scientists believe underground systems could play a critical role in achieving global net-zero targets through:

• Permanent carbon storage
• Natural hydrogen extraction
• Geothermal power generation
• Industrial decarbonisation
• Long-term climate restoration

This marks a profound shift in how humanity interacts with the planet itself. For more than a century, the Earth’s underground resources were primarily used for extraction – oil, gas, coal, and minerals. Emerging climate technologies are now reversing that relationship. Instead of removing carbon from underground and releasing it into the atmosphere, future industries may capture carbon from emissions and permanently return it back into the Earth. The planet itself becomes part of the climate solution.

Challenges Still Stand in the Way

Despite the growing excitement surrounding underground hydrogen and carbon mineralisation, major challenges remain before large-scale deployment becomes commercially viable. Scaling laboratory breakthroughs into industrial reality will require:

• Significant infrastructure investment
• Advanced drilling technologies
• Long-term geological monitoring
• Clear regulatory frameworks
• Water management systems
• Large-scale pilot projects

Cost remains another major factor. While the science is advancing rapidly, commercial deployment still depends on reducing operational costs and proving scalability across different geological environments. Not every underground formation behaves the same way, and large-scale field trials will be critical to understanding long-term efficiency and performance. Yet momentum is clearly building. Governments, investors, energy companies, and climate-tech innovators are accelerating research and funding at unprecedented speed. Technologies once considered experimental are increasingly moving toward commercial reality as the pressure to achieve net-zero intensifies worldwide.

A Future Where Carbon Becomes Stone

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this technology is not only what it does – but what it represents. For more than a century, industrial civilisation extracted carbon from beneath the Earth and released it into the atmosphere, driving economic growth at the cost of environmental stability. Now, science is beginning to reverse that process. Carbon dioxide captured from industrial emissions may soon be dissolved in water, injected deep underground, and permanently transformed back into stone – while simultaneously helping generate clean hydrogen for the next generation of global industry. It is more than a technological breakthrough. It is a complete reimagining of how energy, industry, and the natural world can work together. And for nations investing heavily in sustainable innovation today – especially across the UAE and wider Gulf region – the race to master these underground climate systems may ultimately define the next era of global energy leadership.