A growing number of sizable companies, from mining giants to energy majors, are embracing the hype for natural hydrogen.
It comes as buzz continues to build over the potential for a resource that advocates say could radically reshape the global energy landscape.
Natural hydrogen, sometimes known as white, gold or geologic hydrogen, refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth’s surface. The long-overlooked resource, first discovered by accident in Mali nearly 40 years ago, contains no carbon and produces only water when burned.
Investor interest in the nascent natural hydrogen sector has been intensifying in recent months, fueling optimism initially driven by research startups and junior exploration companies.
Over the past year or so, some of the sector’s established backers include mining giants Rio Tinto and Fortescue, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the venture capital arm of British oil giant BP and Bill Gates‘ clean tech investment fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
We can use it to make metals, make fuels, you could even make food, and all with far fewer emissions than conventional approaches.
Eric Toone
Chief technology officer at Breakthrough Energy
Exploratory efforts are currently underway in several countries across the globe, with Canada and the U.S. leading the way in terms of project counts over the last year, according to research published by consultancy Rystad Energy.
Analysts expect the year ahead to be a pivotal one, with industry players hoping their exploration campaigns can soon locate the elusive gas.
Not everyone’s convinced about the clean energy potential of natural hydrogen, however, with critics flagging environmental concerns and distribution challenges. For its part, the International Energy Agency has warned there is a possibility that the resource “is too scattered to be captured in a way that is economically viable.”
A global scramble for ‘white gold’
Minh Khoi Le, head of hydrogen research at Rystad Energy, said it’s difficult to predict whether natural hydrogen can live up to its promise in 2025.
“I guess last year was the year that things got really interesting for the natural hydrogen space because that’s when many companies started to plan drilling campaigns, extraction testing and we started to see some major players start to get involved as well,” Le told CNBC by video call.
“Since then, I would say the progress has been relatively slow. There are only a few companies that have actually started drilling,” he added.
Gauges that are part of the electrolysis plant of the geological hydrogen H2 storage facility.
Alex Halada | Afp | Getty Images
Rystad’s Le, who characterized the global pursuit of natural hydrogen as a “white gold rush” last year, said that while there’d been no major progress over the last 12 months, an upswing in investor interest could help to deliver some meaningful results.
“Now, we are starting to see companies getting investment, so they have money to fund their drilling campaigns. So, if we are to get an answer of whether this thing will work, we’ll get to that conclusion a bit faster this year,” Le said.
Hydrogen has long been billed as one of many potential energy sources that could play a key role in the energy transition, but most of it is produced using fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, a process that generates significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Green hydrogen, a process that involves splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, is one exception to the hydrogen color rainbow. However, its development has been held back by soaring costs and a challenging economic environment.
Clean, homegrown energy
Australia’s HyTerra announced an investment of $21.9 million from Fortescue in August last year, noting that the proceeds would be used to fully fund expanded exploration projects.
A spokesperson for Fortescue, one of the leading green hydrogen developers, said its push into the natural hydrogen sector was in line with its “strategic commitment to exploring zero emissions fuels.”
Acknowledging that more work is required to fully assess natural hydrogen’s emissions profile, Fortescue’s spokesperson described the technology as a “promising opportunity” to accelerate industrial decarbonization.
A hydrogen-powered haul truck, right, at the Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. Christmas Creek mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Australia, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elsewhere, BP Ventures, the venture capital arm of BP, led a Series A funding round of U.K.-based natural hydrogen exploration startup Snowfox Discovery earlier this year, while France-based start-up Mantle8 recently received 3.4 million euros ($3.9 million) in seed funding from investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015.
Eric Toone, chief technology officer at Breakthrough Energy, said the fund had backed the likes of Mantle8 and U.S.-based startup Koloma because the promise of natural hydrogen is such that it “could unlock a new era of clean, homegrown energy.”
“Hydrogen is pure reactive chemical energy. If we have enough hydrogen and it’s cheap enough, we can do almost anything. We can use it to make metals, make fuels, you could even make food, and all with far fewer emissions than conventional approaches,” Toone told CNBC via email.
“We know it’s out there and not just in isolated pockets. Early exploration has identified natural hydrogen across six continents. The challenge now is figuring out how to extract it efficiently, move it safely, and build the systems to put it to work,” he added.
In search of the ‘eureka moment’
Aurian Durbuis, chief of staff at France’s Mantle8, said momentum certainly appears to be building from a venture capital perspective.
“There is a growing interest, indeed, especially given the dynamics with green hydrogen right now, unfortunately. People are turning their eyes to other solutions, which is in our favor,” Durbuis told CNBC by video call.
Taking the evolution of US shale-gas as an analogy, even if large finds are made, it will likely take decades to achieve industrial production.
Arnout Everts
Member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition
Based in Grenoble, in the foothills of the French Alps, Mantle8 is targeting the discovery of 10 million tons of natural hydrogen by 2030 to complement the European Union’s goals.
“The question is can we find producible reservoirs, in the oil and gas terminology. That’s really what we need to figure out as an industry,” Durbuis said.
“We think we can drill in 2028 and hopefully that is the eureka moment because if we can find something at that time, then it could obviously be a game changer. If we find highly concentrated hydrogen, with pressure, then this just changes everything,” he added.
What’s next for natural hydrogen?
The Hydrogen Science Coalition, a group of academics, scientists and engineers seeking to bring an evidence-based view to hydrogen’s role in the energy transition, said exploration for natural hydrogen is still at an “embryonic stage” — but even so, the likelihood of locating large finds of nearly pure hydrogen that can be extracted at scale look “relatively slim.”
The world’s only producing hydrogen well in Mali, for example, supplies “just a fraction of the daily energy output of a single wind turbine,” Arnout Everts, a geoscientist and member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition, told CNBC via email.
The team from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) took samples of natural hydrogen gas found in One Pute Jaya Village, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, 23 October 2023.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
“Taking the evolution of US shale-gas as an analogy, even if large finds are made, it will likely take decades to achieve industrial production,” Everts said.
Ultimately, the Hydrogen Science Coalition said the pursuit of natural hydrogen risks distracting focus from the renewable hydrogen needed to decarbonize industries today.
Cynics will point at big rebates and claim they mean the vehicle isn’t selling, but that just exposes them for the industry noobs that they are. A rebate is a powerful financial tool that helps dealers overcome obstacles like negative equity, poor credit, and down payment requirements and get you to drive home in the car of your dreams today.
UPDATE: Kia really, really wants you to buy a new EV this month!
As I was putting this list together, I realized there were plenty of ways for me to present this information. “Biggest EV incentive deals ..?” Not everyone qualifies for every rebate. “Most stackable EV rebates ..?” Too confusing. In the end, I went with national cash back offers and chose to present them in alphabetical order, by make. And, as for which deals are new this month? You’re just gonna have to read the article. Enjoy!
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BMW XM
BMW XM; via BMW.
It may look like an angry space beaver on the outside, but BMW advertises itself as the Ultimate Driving Machine, not the Ultimate Style Machine — and by all accounts, the big BMW PHEV is one, if not the best-handling big SUVs out there.
With up to 30 miles of all electric range and a powerful V8 engine, it’s not savaing any trees, but now through April 30th, all versions of the plug-in hybrid offer $12,500 in lease or APR cash. If you’re financing your XM PHEV, BMW Financial is also offering 3.99% financing for up to 60 months, with a 72-month option at 4.49% APR.
Chevy BrightDrop
Chevrolet BrightDrop ZEVO; via GM.
We recently highlighted a Costco offer that stacks a $25,500 manufacturer rebate with $3,000 in “regular” Costco Member Savings, $2,750 in “LIMITED-TIME” Manufacturer to Member Incentives, plus an additional $250 for Costco Executive members.
That’s more than $30,000 off the MSRP of one of the best, most capable commercial vans on the market – ICE or electric. And that’s before you factor in the 0% interest financing (72 mo.) being advertised on Chevy dealer websites.
Chrysler Pacifica PHEV
2025 Chrysler Pacifica PHEV Pinnacle; via Stellantis.
When the plug-in hybrid Chrysler Pacifica minivan first went on sale all the way back in 2016, it seemed to imply that the old Chrysler Corporation was going to race ahead of the other “Big Three” legacy US carmakers.
That didn’t happen, but the Pacifica is still the king of cupholders, while the van’s stow n’ go seating, and all the other practical, clever details that add up to remind you Chrysler invented these things. Through April 30th, you can get a $7,500 cash allowance plus $7,500 in Federal income tax credits on Pacific Plug-in Hybrid Select, S, and Pinnacle trim level vans.
Dodge Charger EV
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona EV; via Stellantis.
As the auto industry transitions to electric, Dodge is hoping that at least a few muscle car enthusiasts with extra cash, will find their way to a Dodge store and ask for the meanest, loudest, tire-shreddingest thing on the lot.
These days, that’s the new electric Charger – and you still owed money on the Hemi you just totaled, Dodge will help get the deal done on its latest retro ride with a $6,500 rebate on 2025 models or $3,000 plus 0% financing for up to 72 months on 2024s.
Dodge Hornet PHEV
2024 Dodge Hornet PHEV; via Stellantis.
Despite objectively being one of the slowest-selling new cars in North American, the Dodge Hornet eAWD PHEV offers specs that could make a compelling case for die-hard Dodge fans who are curious about EVs, but still worried about finding charging away from home.
If that’s you, the Hornet offers over 30 miles of all-electric range from its 12 kWH battery and a decently quick 0-60 mph — then sweetens the deal even more with $6,500 in lease cash to help bring the payment down.
Jeep Wrangler 4xe
Wrangler 4xe and its 49 miles of all-electric range; via Stellantis.
While not much of an EV with “just” a 17.3 kWh battery, the PHEV version Jeep’s iconic Wrangler is often the cheapest version of the SUV to lease – a fact that’s seen the 4xe variants become a popular choice. Now through April 30th, Stellantis is offering up to $8,000 in cash allowance (not counting dealer discounts and other local incentives) in hopes that this latest offer is one you can’t refuse.
Kia Niro EV
Kia Niro EV; via Kia.
One of the most underrated little runabouts on the market, the Kia Niro EV is more fun to drive than you think it’ll be, with zippy acceleration, solid quality, and an approachable sort of anonymity that I think a lot of Tesla drivers would appreciate right now.
Now through April 30th, Kia is offering up to $8,500 cash back on remaining 2024 Niro EVs and $7,500 on 2025 models. If you don’t like paying interest, Kia has 0% financing for up to 72 months on ’24s and a sweet $129/mo. lease deal on ’25 models – so whatever your specific needs are, your Kia dealer probably has a Niro EV deal they can get to work for you.
Kia EV6 GT
Kia EV6 GT lines up against ICE supercars; via Kia.
CarsDirect is reporting 24-month leases on the positively awesome Kia EV6 GT featuring up to $19,000 in lease cash through May 1st. Other EV6 variants get decent cash back offers, too – be sure to ask your local dealer about the one you’re interested in.
Kia EV9
Kia EV9; via Kia.
I’ve been seeing Kia’s excellent, hot-selling tree-row electric SUV all over the ‘burbs, lately — and it’s hardly a wonder why. In addition to being a great car, the Kia EV9 has some of the most aggressive customer incentives in the business, with $11,000 cash back for conventional financing customers and a whopping $16,000 lease cash on 24 month terms through May 1 (36 and 48 month lessors still get a pretty incredible $15,000 cash back).
Get used to seeing these around, in other words. If not in your own driveway, certainly in some of your neighbors’!
Nissan Ariya and LEAF
2024 Nissan LEAF and Ariya “Hero” shot; via Nissan.
OK, this one’s cheating — the Swedish/Chinese love child of Volvo, Geely, and the championship-winning go-fast gurus at Cyan Racing, Polestar is announcing up to $20,000 in incentives to convince some (but, crucially, not all) customers to trade in their existing EVs on a new Polestar.
It’s not breaking any sales records, but the Toyota bZ4X is a solid five-passenger crossover EV that should meet any suburbanite’s needs with enough of Toyota’s legendary quality baked in to make it a safe bet for a decade-plus of hassle-free driving. Plus, with $10,000 in TFS Lease Subvention cash and plenty of dealer discounts floating around, it might be the best deal in Toyota’s current lineup.
Volkswagen ID.4
VW ID.4; via Volkswagen.
One of the most popular legacy EVs, the ID.4 offers Volkswagen build quality and (for 2024) a Chat-GPT enabled interface. To keep ID.4 sales rolling, VW dealers are getting aggressive with discounts, making this fast-charging, 291 mile EPA-rated range, 5-star safety rated EV a value proposition that’s tough to beat.
This month, buy a Volkswagen ID.4 with up to $10,500 in Customer Bonus Cash or lease one with $7,500 in Lease Bonus cash.
Disclaimer: the vehicle models and rebate deals above were sourced from sites like CarsDirect, CarEdge, USNews, and (where mentioned) the OEM websites – and were current 21APR2025. Despite my best efforts to filter these, some deals may not be available in your market, or to every buyer (the standard “with approved credit” fine print should be considered implied). Check with your local dealer(s) for more information.
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New York state lawmakers have launched an effort to shut down Tesla’s stores in the state by revoking its waiver to allow direct sales.
Several states in the US have laws prohibiting the direct sale of electric vehicles to the public without going through third-party dealerships.
These bans stem from outdated laws intended to protect car dealers from their own automakers supplying the vehicles.
The idea is that automakers cannot open a company-owned store next to a third-party car dealer after they have invested in selling and servicing their cars. It would be unfair competition.
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Now, some car dealerships are using those old laws to prevent automakers that have never had deals with third-party franchise dealers, such as Tesla and Rivian, from selling their vehicles to the public, even though it constitutes fair competition.
Tesla has been fighting those laws in many states with some success.
Now, state legislators in New York are pushing to remove Tesla’s exemption and grant it to other electric vehicle (EV) automakers.
Senator Patricia Fahy, who was once an ally to Tesla in its fight to be allowed to sell in New York, is now leading the effort to remove Tesla’s waiver (via New York Times):
Ms. Fahy, a Democrat whose district includes Albany, and other state lawmakers are pushing to revoke a legislative waiver that has let Tesla directly operate five New York dealerships rather than sell cars through dealer franchises, as other carmakers must do.
Fahy’s effort stems from her regret of having supported Tesla in the past:
“Maybe I’m making amends,” Ms. Fahyreplied when asked about her previous support for Tesla. Mr. Musk, she said, is “part of an administration that is killing all the grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, killing wind energy, killing anything that might address climate change. Why should we give them a monopoly?”
Many, like Fahy, believe that CEO Elon Musk’s support for Trump and their efforts to curtail EV adoption amount to Musk pulling the ladder that helped Tesla dominate the EV space, just as other EV companies need it.
To be fair, the state senator is not completely changing her stance on direct sales because of Musk’s involvement with Tesla. Instead, she changed her opinion on giving Tesla a waiver:
Ms. Fahy now views Tesla’s waiver as an unfair advantage, and wants the company to forfeit its five licenses by 2026. Under her plan, the licenses could be redistributed to rival electric-vehicle manufacturers like Rivian, Lucid and the Volkswagen affiliate Scout Motors, which also employ a direct-to-consumer sales approach.
I’ve made my thoughts clear about direct sales. They should be allowed for any automakers who don’t use franchise dealers. That includes Tesla.
I think Tesla should be allowed to sell its vehicles in New York, and people should be allowed to boycott them.
However, I agree that Tesla getting a specific waiver is unfair. Any new automaker, like Rivian, Lucid, etc., should also be able to open stores freely in the state.
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FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with the PayPal logo is placed on a laptop in this illustration taken on July 14, 2021.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
PayPal, Block and Affirm are all closely tied to the health of the consumer, which has investors on edge headed into their earnings reports.
Markets broadly have been jittery to start the year due largely to concerns about President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and the prospect of higher import costs leading to rising unemployment and reduced consumer spending.
Specific to e-commerce, there’s the end of de minimis trade exemptions for Chinese imports, effective May 2. That change, aimed at discount shopping apps like Temu and Shein, threatens tens of billions of dollars in low-cost cross-border e-commerce volume.
“Tariff implications and macro have added another wrinkle to ’25,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a note on April 16. The bank said PayPal is particularly exposed to tariff-related volatility and macro uncertainty, given that 90% of its revenue comes from consumer-driven transactions.
PayPal is the first in the group to report earnings on Tuesday. Block, the parent of Square, follows on Thursday. Affirm is scheduled to report results next Thursday. Their stock prices have been hit harder this year than the broader market. PayPal is down 23%, Block has fallen 32% and Affirm has dropped 19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 10%.
The stocks rebounded last week as Wall Street showed some level of optimism that the Trump administration will make progress on trade agreements and that tariffs won’t be as extreme as earlier proposals suggested.
Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro
Trump signed an executive order in early April imposing tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories. After markets immediately plunged, the president soon announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs, though levies on imports from China remain, and are as high as 145%. The universal tariff rate on goods imported into the U.S. from most countries is 10%.
The fintech reports land during earnings season for megcap tech, with Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple all announcing results this week. Tesla and Alphabet both reported last week and talked about the potential impact of policy changes on their earnings calls.
On Alphabet’s earnings call on Thursday, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said the end of the de minimis trade loophole will “cause a slight headwind to our ads business in 2025,” primarily from retailers in the Asia-Pacific region.
While Google is “not immune to the macro environment,” Schindler said, it has “a lot of experience managing through uncertain times.”
E-commerce challenges
With mixed messages coming from the administration, companies are reckoning with uncertainty and have little ability to provide accurate forecasts for the current quarter and remainder of the year. The volatility reached such heights in early April that Klarna, which competes with Affirm in the buy now, pay later market, and ticket marketplace StubHub delayed their long-awaited initial public offerings shortly after filing their prospectuses with the SEC.
Barclays analysts noted in a report on April 17, that significantly higher tariffs will weigh heavily on e-commerce sales, particularly for goods previously entering the U.S. duty-free. The firm estimates that Temu and Shein represent more than 30% of affected flows, much of it tied to digital wallets, buy now, pay later providers, and card processing infrastructure.
PayPal derives the vast majority of sales from consumer transactions and 40% of revenue and gross payment volume comes from international markets, according to Wells Fargo analysts. The bank trimmed its price target on April 16,to $74 from $80, citing margin pressure as e-commerce trends soften and competition rises.
PayPal has been getting a boost from Venmo, but that segment is also threatened if consumer spending declines. Growth expectations for the quarter — specifically a 5.5% increase in branded checkout volume — may be too high, Wells Fargo said, based on available nonstore retail sales data.
Analysts surveyed by LSEG estimate that PayPal will post revenue growth of just under 2% from a year earlier to $7.85 billion, and earnings of $1.16 per share.
Jack Dorsey’s Block faces pressure in multiple areas. Cash App user growth was sluggish in March, up just 1.3% from the same time last year, and Afterpay — the company’s buy now, pay later offering — is tightening its underwriting to limit credit losses. Barclays flagged Block as one of the more exposed names to small business churn and low-income volatility, noting that Afterpay volumes remain tied to highly discretionary consumer spend.
Block is expected to report revenue growth of about 4% to $6.2 billion, and earnings of 87 cents per share, according to LSEG,
Affirm reported a 30% increase in monthly active users in March, but tighter credit conditions and a broader economic cooldown may crimp near-term loan volume growth. Its business counts on purchases of electronics, apparel, furniture and other consumer goods.
Affirm is projected to report revenue growth of 36% to $783 million, and a loss of 3 cents per share, according to consensus estimates from LSEG.
Barclays analysts wrote in a note on April 15, thatin March and the early part of April, much of the retail market may have experienced a “pull forward” of discretionary spending as consumers rushed to make purchases ahead of the May tariff implementation, a dynamic that could distort some backward-looking results.
“This scenario would essentially kick the sentiment can down the road,” the Barclays analysts wrote.
Representatives from PayPal, Block and Affirm declined to comment.