Hydrogen is emerging as a critical component in the global energy transition, providing a low-carbon alternative for sectors such as industry and transportation. This paper aims to comprehensively address water usage in hydrogen production by exploring the water demands of different production methods and their implications for water management, particularly in Texas. Key variables influencing water consumption are identified, and potential water demands under different hydrogen market scenarios are estimated. Using spatial analysis, regions where hydrogen production may stress local water resources are identified, alongside policy recommendations for sustainable water use.

The rapid deployment of direct air capture and storage (DACS) is critical for achieving emission targets, necessitating precise evaluation of the scale and cost of carbon dioxide removal. This study examines the availability of land, electricity generation, and geologic CO₂ storage within the United States, estimating a technical potential for low-temperature, adsorbent-based DACS to remove approximately 9 gigatonnes of CO₂ annually. By 2050, a substantial portion of this removal could be achieved at net-removed costs below $300/tonneCO₂, though costs are highly variable depending on factors such as facility scale, construction expenses, climate-dependent productivity and heating efficiency, and geologic storage conditions. In the short term, DACS deployment will help identify key research priorities for advancing technology and reducing removal costs. Concurrently, there is an urgent need for scientifically robust and standardized frameworks for monitoring, reporting, and verifying DACS performance across both established and emerging technologies and energy sources.

Geological hydrogen and helium exploration have increased substantially in recent years, driven by requirements for the energy transition and high-tech industries. These efforts have highlighted the need for fundamental understanding of the underlying geologic systems influencing the generation, migration, and storage of these gases. Since hydrogen (H2) and helium (He) are naturally produced in the subsurface via chemical and nuclear reactions involving major igneous rock types that are common in crystalline basements (e.g., mafic/ultramafic for hydrogen and felsic for helium), predicting and mapping basement terranes and lithologies has become a key focus in these new exploration efforts. Further, historical data from oil and gas wells have suggested the presence He and H2 at depth. While these findings offer promising leads, many of these measurements are outdated and require modern verification to assess their current relevance and potential for commercial accumulation.Our research aims to generate regional-scale interpretations of the He and H2 system across the state of Texas. To this end, we explore field and well data to complement and refine existing basement lithology interpretations previously derived from core and geophysical data. The main contribution of our work is the application of Bayesian analysis as the basis for joint inversion of gravity and aeromagnetic data to produce probabilistic estimates of basement lithologies throughout the state. Secondly, the extensive analysis of soil and well gas samples for determining He and H2 generation and storage. Thirdly, improve well log analysis of basin scale lithological interpretations to increase the accuracy of the hydrogen and helium migration and storage potential across the system. These methods ultimately aim to significantly improve the predictive capability of He and H2 plays based on a suite of geochemical and geophysical data.The research is currently focusing on the Permian Basin and Ouachita Thrust Belt region in West Texas (USA) that have traditionally been targeted for oil and gas exploration. The Mesoproterozoic basement of the Permian Basin forms an intractonic sag and consists of a complex assemblage of igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are rock types known to generate He and H2. Interestingly, the basin comprises a 300-1200 m thick Permian evaporite sequence, which may act as an effective seal for basement-sourced He and H2. A soil gas survey was conducted to identify potential emission zones and to evaluate the sealing potential of the evaporite sequence. This survey was complemented by well data to investigate gas presence below any overburden. In the most favorable areas, long-term H₂ monitoring was implemented to assess possible cyclicity (e.g., diurnal, seasonal) in gas emissions. Basement rock sampling and well gas analyses provide insights into both past and potentially ongoing reactions beneath the overburden, helping to constrain the He and H2 system and the geological controls.In this presentation, we demonstrate this approach to generate Texas-wide basement lithology maps. We focus on specific compositions relevant to geologic He and H2 exploration, and highlight the utility of these maps to help focus future exploration and development efforts for this rapidly growing field of study.

This study develops a geospatial, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework to evaluate hydrogen infrastructure suitability while explicitly integrating geological hazards alongside infrastructure, storage, and demand considerations. Using Texas as a case study, we combine earthquake data from TexNet, wildfire risk data from FEMA, and spatial datasets representing hydrogen production proxies, transportation infrastructure, geological storage potential, and demand centers within a GIS-based weighted overlay framework.Suitability layers are standardized using ordinal scoring and aggregated under multiplescenario-based weighting schemes reflecting alternative planning priorities. Results demonstrate that including earthquake and wildfire hazards materially alter regional suitability patterns, even when hazards receive relatively low weights. Comparisons between hazard-inclusive and hazard-excluded scenarios show that infrastructure-only approaches tend to overstate suitability in certain regions, while hazard-aware scenarios introduce greater spatial differentiation. Sensitivity analyses further reveal that regional rankings are highly dependent on planning objectives, particularly the relative emphasis placed on storage potential, transport access, and demand proximity. The proposed methodology provides a transparent and transferable tool to support risk-informed hydrogen development and long-term infrastructure resilience in Texas and other emerging hydrogen regions.