Geologic Hydrogen Site Access Challenge RFP
Request for Proposals Solicited & Reviewed by HyTerra Ltd. and Renaissance Philanthropy
Purpose & Opportunity
Geoscientists now estimate there may be more than 5.6 trillion tons of hydrogen locked beneath our feet – roughly sixty times the energy content of all the world’s oil and gas combined. Geologic hydrogen (geoH₂) is now an emerging potential new zero-carbon primary energy source produced by water–rock reactions within the Earth’s crust. It could deliver clean hydrogen at $0.50–$1.50 per kilogram – decades ahead of green hydrogen’s projected cost curve.
However, today the geoH₂ sector stands where geothermal and shale gas did two decades ago: long on theory, short on open field data. Very few if any wells drilled world-wide have released any open data. Capturing real-world subsurface information - pressure, flow rates, gas composition, microbial ecology, depletion curves - is now the gating step to:
Validate hydrogen-generation mechanisms across different rock types.
Derisk investment by turning speculation into bankable volumetric models.
Shape early regulatory codes before rules ossify around untested assumptions.
This Challenge offers unprecedented access to three recently-drilled hydrogen wells in the United States’ Midcontinent Rift. We invite researchers to propose what they would do with the wellhead, with HyTerra’s subsurface data, or both—and to publish results that advance the entire field.
Grant Snapshot
Awards Available: 1-3 grants each up to USD $50,000-100,000.
Project Term: Maximum of 12 months or as mutually-agreed by the awardee and partners.
Eligible applicants: This RFP Process is intended for non-conflicted applicants within universities, non-profits, national labs, and other entities worldwide, subject to conflicts-of-interest disclosures. Exceptions to this include individuals and entities residing in Belarus, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, who are not eligible to receive grant funding.
Key requirement: Publication of methods, data, and results under agreed data-sharing terms.
Application: Complete this form based on this metadata package. Please note the form does not save your work. For planning purposes, a PDF version of the form can be found here.
About the Partners
Renaissance Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization working to fuel a 21st-century renaissance by increasing the ambition of philanthropists, scientists and innovators. Our aim is to activate a virtuous loop of increasing ambition and impact between philanthropists and innovators: by identifying frontier experts both in science and in new ways of solving problems; by tapping into the growing number of emerging philanthropists; and by building multi-sector initiatives that can harness the power of philanthropy, markets, and governments. We advance our mission by designing, incubating, and managing time-bound, thesis-driven funds.
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. The latter is the entity operating its Project Nemaha Hydrogen and Helium exploration activities in Kansas. In 2025, significant exploration activities took place, including 3 wells drilled, 2D seismic and airborne gravity and magnetic data acquired.
What We Provide
Project Site Access: Applicants may request access to the field if it aligns with project objectives.
Data Catalogue Access: Metadata-only view of HyTerra’s internal datasets (cuttings and cores, raw wireline log suites, mud logs, gravity and magnetic data, and seismic. Applicants select which data they would need, with raw files delivered post-award as needed”
Stipends: Travel and analytical costs covered within the grant budget.
Technical Support: Collaborative, hands-on engagement throughout the course of the project.
Example Topic Areas
Subsurface Geochemistry & Fluid Flow: Fluid inclusion chemistry from rock samples from HYT wells and legacy wells in Mid-Continent Rift.
Hydrogen Source: Hydrogen generation potential of rock samples from HYT wells and legacy wells in Mid-Continent Rift, and their mineralogy and elemental chemistry.
Reservoir Modeling & Simulation: 3D reactive transport model of the Mid-Continent Rift with emphasis on hydrogen and helium using inputs from HYT wells.
Pre-Cambrian rock characterisation: Comprehensive re-evaluation of the Precambrian basement rocks in the Mid-Continent Rift region; petrography, elemental chemistry of core and cuttings from HYT wells and legacy wells.
Core - wireline log calibration: Detailed evaluation of a ~30ft core from HYT’s McCoy-1 well within Precambrian rocks and comparison against wireline logging suite collected across the same interval.
Geophysical characterization of Precambrian Rocks in the Mid-Continent Rift using airborne gravity and magnetic data and 2D seismic acquired by HYT in 2025.
Have another idea? Surprise us. Creativity is encouraged.
Evaluation
Proposals are scored on scientific merit, feasibility within site constraints, contribution to open data, and potential impact on the broader clean geoH₂ ecosystem. We will favorably evaluate proposals that seek to standardize measurements from collected data on behalf of the field as well as advance knowledge on geoH₂ life-cycle assessments.
Data Access & Release Embargoes
Selected participants will be expected to sign Data Use Agreements and Non Disclosure Agreements upon receipt of grant to gain access to relevant datasets.
Publication and Intellectual Property Guidelines
Research Period: Research is expected to remain non-public for a period of 12-months from the start of the grant. Selectees are expected to routinely engage and share updates with HyTerra and Renaissance Philanthropy during this time. Where data is deemed less sensitive by HyTerra, earlier publication timelines may be permitted at the discretion of HyTerra and Renaissance Philanthropy.
Advance Notice: Selectees must notify HyTerra and Renaissance Philanthropy 45 days before submitting manuscripts/abstracts using embargoed data.
Pre-print publications: Researchers may submit preprints of their analyses after the research period. Preprints must not include or disclose embargoed raw data, but may reference results derived and mention future peer-review will be completed under safe harbor conditions.
Peer-Review Safe Harbor: If required, journals and editors can obtain a Journal Review Package under NDA or via a view-only secure environment. Reviewers may verify but not export the data.
Attribution: Publications/presentations must (1) cite original datasets once public, (2) acknowledge HyTerra & Renaissance Philanthropy, (3) share replication code & processed data where feasible once the research period ends; and (4) not contain any material information which is not approved by HyTerra.
Data Ownership: HyTerra owns primary and processed data. Selectees own derived products, defined as interpretations, models, code, and visualizations created by researchers and agrees to grant first rights to HyTerra to access, review, and utilize any such derived products prior to any public release, publication, or third-party use.
Privacy policy: Renaissance Philanthropy Fund (“RenPhil”, “we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information.
Additional details to be provided to selectees.
Key Dates
RFP Released
November 13, 2025
Proposal Deadline
January 31, 2026
Awards Announced
February - March 2026
Project Completion
No later than March 2027
How to Apply
Complete this form based on this metadata package. Please note the form does not save your work. For planning purposes, a PDF version of the form can be found here.
Contact
Please contact geoH2@renphil.org with specific questions.