Éric Claude Gaucher

Éric Claude Gaucher, born in November 1970, is a French geochemist with an international reputation in the field of geo-energy and geological storage. He is a specialist in the calculation of water-rock-gas interactions. He is actively involved in the energy transition through his work on the exploration of native hydrogen.

Éric Claude Gaucher

Biography

Education

In 1993, he obtained a master's degree in Earth sciences at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France).[1] In 1998, under the direction of professor of water chemistry, Gil Michard, Éric Gaucher published a thesis on the water-clays interaction for the CEA and the University of Paris-Diderot.[2]

Career

In 1998, Éric Gaucher began his career at the French Geological Survey (BRGM) in Orléans.[3] There he led a research unit working in particular on the stability of clay formations for the management of radioactive waste and the geological storage of carbon dioxide .

In 2012, he joined TotalEnergies, where his work focuses on water-rock-gas interactions from of a laboratory to geological basin scale using experimental, field and numerical modeling methods. His main research objectives are to understand the behavior of carbon dioxide in sediments (e.g. diagenesis, carbon dioxide storage ), he now studies abiotic gases ( dihydrogen, methane ) in natural systems mainly related to serpentinization.[4]

In 2021, Éric Gaucher joined the University of Bern as associate researcher in the Institute of Geological Sciences.[5][6] His h-index on Google Scholar is 38 in january 2023.[7] In his research of economic gases in France, he also observed how hydrogen sulphide, by its oxidation, is at the origin of large karstic caverns.[8]

In 2022, he founded a start-up specializing in the natural hydrogen exploration, Lavoisier H2 Geoconsult.[9][10]

His research on native hydrogen encouraged him to believe that industrial exploitation of this energy resource was possible, and declared in 2023 that he hoped that investors would take the initiative to launch exploration projects.[3] His last research is focused on characterizing the volume of native hydrogen in Switzerland for industrial production, particularly in the Valais region.[11][12] He compares the economic potential of native hydrogen to the discovery of oil in 1859 in Titusville by the drilling of Edwin Drake.[13] A first dihydrogen drilling already illustrates this possibility since 1987 in Bourakébougou in Mali.

Publications

Notes and references
  1. Gaucher, Éric C. (February 2020). "New Perspectives in the Industrial Exploration for Native Hydrogen". Elements: An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Petrology. 16 (1): 8–9. doi:10.2138/gselements.16.1.8. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  2. Gaucher, Eric (1998). Interactions eaux-argiles étude expérimentale (PhD thesis) (in French). Paris 7.
  3. Chantal Srivastava (March 12, 2023). "De potentielles réserves naturelles d'hydrogène vert" [Potential natural reserves of green hydrogen]. Radio Canada (Podcast) (in French). Radio Canada. Event occurs at between 0 minute and 7 minute. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  4. Florian Koch (March 17, 2023). "Was ein explodierender Brunnen für die Zukunft der Energie bedeutet" [What an exploding gas means for the future of energy]. Der Standard (in German). Retrieved March 25, 2023..
  5. Université de Bern: Profil: Eric C. Gaucher (accessed February 1, 2023).
  6. Dunja Batarilo (March 18, 2023). "Natürlicher Wasserstoff unter der Erde" [Natural hydrogen under the earth]. Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved March 25, 2023..
  7. Google Scholar: Éric C. Gaucher (accessed February 1, 2023).
  8. Jenessa Duncombe (March 31, 2023). "Searching for the Sculptor of France's Caves". Eos. 104. Retrieved April 22, 2023..
  9. "Lavoisier H2 Geoconsult". Le Figaro (in French). May 17, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023..
  10. Jocelyn Rochat (July 5, 2023). "L'hydrogène naturel, l'énergie propre que personne n'attendait" [Natural hydrogen, the clean energy nobody expected]. Tribune de Genève (in French). Retrieved July 9, 2023..
  11. Foued Boukari (May 31, 2023). "La Suisse se lance dans la recherche d'hydrogène naturel dans la roche alpine" [Switzerland begins exploration for natural hydrogen in Alpine rock]. RTS (in French). Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  12. Camille Lanci (July 22, 2023). "Des géologues à la recherche d'hydrogène naturel dans les roches valaisannes" [Geologists search for natural hydrogen in Valais rocks]. RTS (in French). Retrieved August 17, 2023..
  13. Éric Hand (February 16, 2023). "Hidden Hydrogen". Science. 379 (6633): 630–636. Retrieved February 22, 2023..

Bibliography

References
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