Houston-headquartered Gold H2 today (July 18) announced that its ‘Black 2 Gold’ (B2G) biotech process, which it claims produced clean hydrogen at $0.8/kg, was available to select oil and gas owners as well as operators for pilot demonstrations.

The Cemvita subsidiary also said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a “major oil and gas company,” in the US which marked the start of numerous pilot plants over the next 12 months.

Gold H2 claims its technology can turn depleted oil reservoirs into underground hydrogen production chambers.

Last November, oil and gas services firm ChampionX agreed to carry out field trials of the technology.

Read more: ChampionX to work with Cemvita subsidiary on hydrogen production from depleted oil wells

It does this by picking reservoirs that can handle being filled with water, maintaining temperatures between 130oF and 180oF and having less than 100,000ppm of dissolved solids.

Using a Mobile Microbe Manufacturer (M3), the company adds microbes and nutrients to the water, which starts the process of making hydrogen.

Each M3 unit can handle up to 120 wells, according to the company, with each well making up to 2.5 tonnes of hydrogen every day.

Gold H2 hopes the technology will help to produce new, clean energy sources while allowing oil and gas firms to transform non-productive oil wells into “mass hydrogen-producing assets.”

“This business model will reshape the traditional oil and gas industry landscape by further accelerating the clean energy transition and creating new economic opportunities in areas that were previously dismissed as unviable,” the firm said.

Alicia Dinges, Head of Business Development at Gold H2, said, “Unlike other producers, Gold H2 uses Earth’s natural resources to produce the lowest cost, cleanest hydrogen fuel.

“Over the last two years, our team has worked tirelessly towards this day, expanding our microbe portfolio, testing different environments, and preparing for worldwide deployment.”