While solar arrays and wind turbines are now commonplace, there are smaller, riskier niches within the clean energy sector. One of these, if it pans out, could be no less than transformational on a global scale, advocates say. Senior Climate Correspondent Louise Boyle reports

In 1974, “Diamond” Glenn McCarthy sat down to reminisce about the highs and lows, the fortunes made and squandered, by the “wildcatters” of American oil.

“They risked and sometimes they won,” Mr McCarthy, the gregarious risk-taker dubbed “King of the Wildcatters” told Texas Monthly. In the early 20th century, he had bet big on drilling wells in places ignored or considered unproductive by major oil companies. By the 1940s, he had 400 wells and a $200million fortune (about $2.5billion in today’s money).

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In Africa, Europe, Australia and the United States, a growing number of start-ups are staking their fortunes and reputations on finding vast, underground deposits of hydrogen.

Like fossil fuels, natural hydrogen can be used as a primary source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels, the gas produces no carbon emissions. What’s more, hydrogen is constantly renewing underground when water and iron minerals react under high temperatures. Early research says there may be enough accessible natural hydrogen to power the planet’s clean energy needs for generations.

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