Municipal elections 2026 in Moselle: hydrogen revives hope

So this is what the new Texas of Europe looks like. To a land much greener and more humid than the American state enriched by its oil. Welcome to Moselle, where an intriguing drilling platform stands out against the misty sky, on the outskirts of the village of Pontpierre. It will be dismantled at the end of February 2026. Its objective until then: to confirm that the Lorraine carboniferous basin is home to immense resources of a unique gas, white hydrogen.

One month before the municipal elections, this drilling is no longer a simple scientific curiosity. People talk about it, watch it, question their future. It all starts from a discovery made in 2022 by geologists from Lorraine. While carrying out surveys in the area, they discovered, astounded, high concentrations of hydrogen. After verification, they estimate the possible resources of the Lorraine subsoil at 34 million tonnes. A deposit of a magnitude currently unprecedented in the world.

So could this be the promise of a crazy jackpot? “It’s too early to tell. We are giving ourselves three years and further drilling to confirm our hypotheses,” say the three researchers behind the discovery, Jacques Pironon, Philippe de Donato and Raymond Michels. Three “creeps”, as they ironically like to call themselves, “because we were treated as such when we communicated our results. Yet we are research directors at the CNRS,” sighs Philippe de Donato.

A renewable resource

If hydrogen arouses so much passion, it is because it appears to be a (too?) perfect alternative to fossil fuels. Its combustion does not emit CO2. And it can regenerate in a few weeks. But it is not yet certain that this is the case for hydrogen in Lorraine, possibly produced by the coal present on site.

This is the other goal of the Pontpierre drilling: to understand how Moselle hydrogen is formed. If it regenerates, it will be the world’s first renewable gas resource. “It would change everything,” judges Jacques Pironon. Global geopolitics would be disrupted. Many nations have already understood this. “The whole world is starting to look for white hydrogen,” notes Philippe de Donato.

According to them, French researchers are one step ahead. Because they would be the only ones to have developed a probe capable of detecting hydrogen in dissolved form in water. “We ignored hydrogen for a long time because we didn’t know how to find it. Today, many countries are asking us,” explains Raymond Michels. And many companies already believe in hydrogen. Such as La Française de l’Énergie, the start-up that manages the Pontpierre drilling.

This deposit would be a boon for Lorraine. The region has long suffered from the closure of its coal mines. But beware of the cliché of a supposedly desolate land. As we approach the drilling, we pass numerous factories. The intercommunity of Pontpierre, the urban district of Faulquemont, has been attracting businesses for a long time, explains François Laverne, its president: “Some have used state funds paid during mine closures to build an Olympic swimming pool. We have invested in the industry. »

Christian Hauser, the mayor of Pontpierre, knows it: one month before the election, every word on hydrogen can be interpreted as a campaign promise. However, he keeps a cool head: “I’m not going to say that I don’t care about hydrogen, but hey, I’m not planning. » Not without reason. It will take at least ten years to build the infrastructure for potential extraction, researchers estimate.

No reliable data

There were few opponents on site. Local environmentalists once fought to successfully prevent French Energy from extracting Lorraine methane. But they are far from condemning hydrogen. On the contrary. “It’s an exciting project, very new,” admits Daniel Schwartz, of the environmental association Apel 57. The latter is in favor of this exploratory work. Provided that drilling does not pollute groundwater. “It’s technically possible,” according to the activist.

Proof that the subject does not divide: there will be no other list than that of the outgoing mayor in Pontpierre in March. “The divide is between those who are for it and those who don’t care,” smiles Daniel Schwartz. “We are not going to demonstrate when we have no reliable data for the moment,” confirms Annaëlle Lantonnois, Pontpierroise involved in Apel 57. She will, however, remain vigilant. As the Americans say: Wait and see* .

*Let’s wait and see!