Renaissance Philanthropy’s Chimaera Fund today announced the selection of three university research teams to conduct the first open, publishable scientific studies using geologic hydrogen (GeoH₂) exploration well data. The teams — from Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology — were chosen through the Geologic Hydrogen Site Access Challenge Request for Proposals (RFP) process, launched in November 2025 with data support from HyTerra Ltd., the first GeoH₂ company to share proprietary well data with academic researchers.
The Challenge tested a simple but unproven thesis: would a geologic hydrogen exploration company share proprietary well data with outside researchers? A $250,000 catalytic grant from Builders Vision funded the effort to find out. HyTerra’s agreement to open access to data from its three newly drilled exploration wells in the U.S. Midcontinent Rift in eastern Kansas answered that question — giving researchers, for the first time, access to proprietary hydrogen exploration well data and the freedom to publish their findings openly.
The RFP’s response underscored strong demand across the research community for open access to hydrogen well data. The Chimaera Fund received 20 proposals from U.S. and international teams, many of exceptional technical caliber, with 12 advancing to full technical review.
HyTerra took a leap no one in this industry had taken — opening proprietary well data to outside researchers — and twenty teams showed up ready to use it. As the industry moves toward pilots and AI multiplies the value of shared data, we think this challenge provides a unique model to accelerate the field’s learning-by-doing.
Ishan Sharma · Director, Chimaera Fund
We are delighted to help Renaissance Philanthropy advance the field of geologic hydrogen with our modern, high-quality data. Working with the Renaissance Philanthropy team on the Site Access Challenge has been a valuable way to bring new thinking and technical capability into geologic hydrogen. For HyTerra, it has helped build goodwill, strengthen industry and research connections, and support broader credibility for an emerging sector that has the potential to play an important role in future energy supply. It has also provided a practical forum for engaging with researchers and innovators who are approaching geologic hydrogen from fresh perspectives, helping to advance the conversation around how prospective resources can be identified, evaluated and responsibly developed.
Avon McIntyre · Executive Director, HyTerra
Three teams, two programs
The full $250,000 was awarded across the three teams and two research programs. Selected proposals were evaluated for technical excellence, field-ready methods that translate directly to real-world exploration, a commitment to open publication, and the potential to deliver field-changing, transferable results within 12 months.
Wireline Log Field-Calibration
Wireline logs exist for tens of thousands of U.S. wells that have penetrated basement rock. No established method exists to read those logs for hydrogen. Texas A&M’s Engineering Experiment Station will calibrate standard wireline log signatures against rock samples from HyTerra’s wells, building a tool that flags hydrogen-productive zones in wells without core samples — turning routine drilling data into a transferable method for basin-scale hydrogen exploration. The project is led by Dr. Rita Okoroafor, Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering, and Dr. Xiaowei Chen, Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics.
What excites me most is its potential to set a new standard for how the community evaluates natural hydrogen systems in Fe-rich basement rocks. By making our results openly available, this process will provide a replicable framework that can accelerate progress across the field.
Dr. Rita Okoroafor · Texas A&M University
Geologic hydrogen is an emerging zero-carbon energy source, yet the generation mechanism and migration pathway remain challenging. This project provides integrated datasets that enable multi-scale investigation — linking small-scale rock properties to basin-scale characterizations to advance our understanding.
Dr. Xiaowei Chen · Texas A&M University
Geochemical Characterization & H₂ Generation Rates
Before hydrogen output can be predicted, researchers must first identify which rocks actually produce it. The University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology will characterize the source-rock geochemistry of the Midcontinent Rift and identify the reactive lithologies most likely to generate hydrogen. New Mexico Tech’s Petroleum Recovery Research Center will measure how much hydrogen those rocks generate and at what rate, integrating well-log, core, and geochemical data into reservoir-scale models of hydrogen generation, migration, and accumulation. Together, the two teams answer both what rocks produce hydrogen and how much.
UT Austin’s team is led by Dr. Toti Larson (Research Associate Professor), Dr. Esti Ukar (Research Associate Professor), and Dr. Orsolya Gelencser (Postdoctoral Research Fellow). New Mexico Tech’s work is led by Dr. Robert Czarnota (Research Associate).
What made this opportunity compelling was the chance to work alongside collaborators we’ve known through the ARPA-E Geologic Hydrogen program. Successful development of geologic hydrogen will require integration of subsurface datasets, laboratory-based quantifiable hydrogen generation rates based on rock type, and exploration tools that can identify where the most favorable rocks are in the subsurface. This project is the first of its kind to combine all of these elements, and I am genuinely excited to demonstrate this in the field.
Dr. Toti Larson · UT Austin
HyTerra has been an exceptional partner in advancing geologic hydrogen research in the Midcontinent Rift, providing site access, geological insight, and active scientific collaboration. The Midcontinent Rift hosts Precambrian mafic-ultramafic rocks with characteristics remarkably similar to lithologies associated with some of the highest dissolved hydrogen concentrations ever reported globally… this collaboration represents a unique opportunity to better understand, discover, and potentially stimulate naturally occurring hydrogen systems with significant resource potential.
Dr. Esti Ukar · UT Austin
What excites me most about this challenge is that we’re building a new perspective on rocks that earth scientists have studied for decades, but not specifically for hydrogen production potential. We will gain better understanding of rock-water interactions, and this knowledge will be combined with other geophysical and engineering methods and tested in a real case in the Mid-Continental Rift, which has big hopes for natural hydrogen exploration.
Dr. Orsolya Gelencser · UT Austin
Collaborating with the partner teams has been an excellent experience so far. The diversity of expertise across universities, national laboratories, and industry-oriented groups creates a highly productive environment for exchanging ideas, experimental methods, and data interpretation strategies. The research has the potential to accelerate development of geologic hydrogen resources and contribute new technologies and methodologies to the broader hydrogen field.
Dr. Robert Czarnota · New Mexico Tech
The three teams will conduct their research over the next 12 months, sharing data, methods, and findings publicly.
We hope this encourages more companies to take the same leap HyTerra did and turn idle datasets into joint value for the whole field.
Ishan Sharma · Director, Chimaera Fund
About Renaissance Philanthropy and the Chimaera Fund
Renaissance Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fuel a 21st-century renaissance by increasing the ambition of philanthropists, scientists, and innovators. The organization builds time-bound, thesis-driven funds, enabling philanthropists and foundations to support ideas that advance entire fields. The Chimaera Fund is the world's leading philanthropic initiative dedicated to geologic hydrogen — funding research, building ecosystems, and supporting policy engagement to accelerate the understanding and responsible development of this emerging energy resource.
About HyTerra
HyTerra Ltd. (ASX: HYT, OTCQB: HYTLF) is an Australian-based public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange which operates in the USA under its subsidiaries HYT USA LLC and HYT Operating LLC. HyTerra is the entity operating its Project Nemaha Hydrogen and Helium exploration activities in Kansas. HyTerra's exploration campaign has included drilling three wells and acquiring airborne gravity, magnetic, and 2D seismic data, with production testing on one of the drilled wells providing additional technical information to inform further exploration activities. HyTerra is working with researchers throughout the study period for immediate access to results, accelerating its own activities in the field of geologic hydrogen as well as contributing to the industry generally through this research.
