SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has confirmed that the natural gas discovered at the Nagsasa Seep in this town has the potential to generate renewable energy sufficient to meet local power demands.

The statement, released on 12 June, cited that Nagsasa Seep has the highest recorded gas seepage. The DOST cited that these gas seeps, also known as “outgassing,” have released a record 800 tons of geologic hydrogen.

“This amount surpasses the previous record of 200 tons reported in Albania in 2024.”

The DoST said that the study on the Nagsasa Seep was featured in the 68th episode of Behind the Science Podcast, and was titled “High hydrogen outgassing from an ophiolite-hosted seep in Zambales, Philippines.”

The study revealed that researchers recorded at least 808 tons of natural surface outgassing per year from the Nagsasa Seep alone — one of the highest, if not the highest, measured hydrogen degassing rates from ophiolites to date.

Nagsasa has about an area of more than one hectare of field with gas seeps.

According to Dr. Karmina A. Aquino, a geological chemist and a Science and Technology fellow from the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DoST-PNRI), these natural hydrogen fluxes measured in the country are a possible source of renewable energy and are significant to supplement the power demand of the town of San Antonio, which is hosting the seep.

Citing the study’s findings, the DoST said the surface outgassing at the seep could generate between 12,861 and 15,185 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year — enough to cover up to 42 percent of San Antonio’s estimated annual power demand of 36,600 MWh.

Aquino said that San Antonio, with 10,000 households, can benefit from the freely available energy resource. She noted that the International Energy Agency has set a global target of producing 500 million tons of clean hydrogen by 2050 in support of its net-zero emissions goal.

This target aligns with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

“Today, 96 percent of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels like methane. So, you convert methane into hydrogen — CH₄ produces hydrogen — but it also produces carbon dioxide, which is not clean,” Aquino said.

Various sources also recognize Zambales as one of the world’s best-preserved examples of ophiolite — a fragment of the Earth’s oceanic crust and upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed on land, often resting atop continental crust.

Aquino and her team are currently coordinating with the DoST-Forest Products Research and Development Institute to explore the possibility of supplying gas and developing a system that can directly convert hydrogen into electricity.