Prospectors hit the gas in the hunt for 'white hydrogen'

The zero-emission fuel may exist in abundant reserves below ground. Now large sums are being invested to look for it For more than a decade, the village of Bourakébougou in western Mali has been powered by a clean energy phenomenon that may soon sweep the globe. The story begins with a cigarette. In 1987, a failed attempt to drill for water released a stream of odourless gas that one unlucky smoker discovered to be highly flammable. The well was quickly plugged and forgotten. But almost 20 year...