Last month, I spoke to The New York Timesabout the promise of geologic hydrogen, a naturally occurring and potentially abundant subsurface resource that could play an important role in the energy transition. Businesses and governments are exploring options for retrieving and stimulating hydrogen production as well as investing in the technology needed to prove geologic hydrogen’s feasibility at scale.
Our June 2025 report, Exploring the Future of Geologic Hydrogen, determined that the potential is real, but key technical and regulatory questions remain unanswered. The possible benefits far outweigh the risks of exploration, making it an opportunity worth pursuing. If successful, geologic hydrogen could provide low-cost, low-carbon fuel at scale, decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors of the U.S. economy, and strengthen America’s influence in global energy innovation.
Read on to learn more about the EFI Foundation’s trailblazing work on this frontier energy resource.
Geologic hydrogen is emerging as one of the world’s most promising clean energy opportunities. Found naturally underground, it could provide low-carbon, low-cost energy if successfully developed at scale.
Exploring the Future of Geologic Hydrogenexamines both the potential and uncertainty surrounding the resource. Findings show that early public investment, clear regulations, and strong coordination between federal and state governments will be critical to developing geologic hydrogen.
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Data Dive
Since 2016, nuclear and fusion energy projects have accounted for 65% of all U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Other Transaction (OT) agreements. The Energy Act of 2020 explicitly called for DOE to use OT-enabled milestone-based agreements for certain projects using these technologies.
Senior Research Lead Katelyn O’Dell Dean and Research Analyst Akhila Mullapudi explore how DOE appears to be accelerating its support for energy innovation in 2026 after a slow and turbulent 2025. The analysis points to increased funding activity, more project approvals, additional awards for companies, and expanded staffing capacity across the department.
INNOVATION
Fervo and X-Energy: How Federal Support Powered Clean Firm IPO Successes
In a new analysis, Deputy Director of Energy Innovation Sarah Frances Smith argues that recent success stories like Fervo and X-energy show how long-term federal funding can help new energy companies survive the risky early stages that private investors often avoid.
SECURITY
U.S. Seeks to Give Weapons-Grade Plutonium to Start-Ups for Fuel
The Trump administration introduced plans to provide weapons-grade plutonium to private companies to turn into fuel for nuclear power plants. The New York Timescited a warning that EFIF Founder and CEO Ernest J. Moniz issued last year regarding the risks this would introduce.
INNOVATION
DOE's Unspent Billions
Executive Vice President Alex Kizer and Smith spoke to Heatmap News for a recent article on the EFIF report, DOE’s 2025 Year in Review: A Year of Radical Uncertainty. It highlights EFIF findings that the agency disbursed only a small fraction of its available budget in 2025, due partly to historically low staffing levels.
CARBON MANAGEMENT
Moniz Joins 3 Takeaways Podcast
Moniz was featured on the 3 Takeaways podcast to discuss the complexities of the energy transition and the importance of addressing climate policy, economics, and national security in one conversation.
Leading Conversations
“The last year’s uncertainty and the staff cuts, the project cancellations, those increase an already tightening bottleneck of difficulty with implementation at the department.”
On June 8, EFIF Founder and CEO Ernest J. Moniz will join leading energy experts for a fireside chat hosted by Earthshot Foundation in partnership with OurEnergyPolicy. Moniz will join a session on shaping the future of the grid.
On June 23, Moniz and Senator Angus King will co-lead a working session, “Energy Security, Innovation, Access, and Affordability: One Conversation to Forge the Future,” at the SEEC Institute’s third annual Solutions Summit—a day-long conference convening energy and climate leaders to advance policy solutions.
EFIF’s Moniz, Chief Operating Officer April Salas, Executive Vice President, David Ellis, and Executive Vice President Stephen D. Comello will attend London Climate Action Week (June 20 to 28) to join leaders across climate, energy, finance, business, and policy to help advance global solutions.
Previous Engagements
Comello, who also serves as executive director of the Nuclear Scaling Initiative (NSI), delivered a presentation on nuclear energy financing at Clean Air Task Force and MIT’s course, “Nuclear Energy: Key Facts and Issues.”
Comello joined a Clean Air Task Force webinar to explain the what, why, and how behind nuclear energy orderbooks and share NSI's latest insights on orderbook formation.
Sarah Frances Smith, deputy director of energy innovation, attended the Carbon Accounting Standards Initiative conference in Munich, Germany and presented on an upcoming EFIF white paper about product carbon intensity standards. Check out EFIF's carbon accounting work here.
Katelyn O’Dell Dean, senior research lead, and Michael Downey, director of energy systems, attended the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium launch in Utah to identify how federal agencies can accelerate deployment of next-generation geothermal projects.
Comello was quoted in Reuters on the promise and challenges of a commercial microreactor rollout in the U.S. amid increasing military support for this technology.
Moniz was quoted inNoēmaabout the groundbreaking “Megatons to Megawatts” program, which transformed Soviet nuclear weapons into fuel for U.S. nuclear power plants, calling it “one of the most successful nuclear nonproliferation partnerships ever undertaken.”
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At the EFI Foundation, we advance innovative, evidence-based solutions to complex energy challenges—combining rigorous analysis with a pragmatic approach to bridge the gap toward a low-carbon future.
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