Lake County emerges as promising target in race to tap naturally occurring hydrogen

THE GROUND THAT BURNED to the foundations during Lake County’s Valley Fire in 2015, on a fault the U.S. Geological Survey rates capable of a magnitude 7 earthquake, is now one of the most promising places in California to hunt for a fuel the state has almost no rules for.

A Denver startup called Koloma — backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy organization and Amazon’s climate fund — has spent the past year quietly mapping the rock under Cobb and Kelseyville, in one of California’s poorest counties, for natural hydrogen. The roadside survey is finished. The company briefed two county supervisors out of public view. And so far, no one has said what it found.