Then one day, a geologist stopped by your house, saw the rocks and said, "Eureka! Gold!"
What once was of little value to you suddenly would be worth a lot.
The state of South Carolina is in the midst of a "eureka" moment. More than 50 years of research at the Savannah River Site has generated piles of research and a lot of scientists with expertise in using hydrogen, mostly radioactive tritium, for defense purposes.
Experts say the very thing being used and studied for years in South Carolina gives it a huge competitive advantage in the quest for future energy solutions.
Over the next 20 years, researchers around the world will be working to develop new energy systems that can meet power needs around the world -- from fueling vehicles to heating homes to powering industrial plants.
"Hydrogen has the potential to be used more efficiently than fossil fuels, and its applications are seemingly endless," states a September 2005 report called "South Carolina's Next Energy Initiative."
But today, using hydrogen as a cost-effective energy source faces challenges, such as how to produce it safely and efficiently on a large scale, as well as how to store and distribute energy throughout society.
South Carolina has big advantages. In addition to a world-class hydrogen fuel cell laboratory at the University of South Carolina and automotive and transportation hubs at Clemson and S.C. State universities, the newest U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory is the Savannah River National Laboratory, started in 2004.
"It has a $139 million annual budget from the federal government and a concentration of hydrogen researchers (90) that may be the largest in the U.S. and even the world," the report states.
In fact, the state ranks 12th nationally in DOE hydrogen projects, fourth in hydrogen storage projects and third in hydrogen delivery projects, according to the 2005 Hydrogen Program Review.
So far, the state has been slow to move toward taking advantage of these assets and turning them into jobs and opportunity. But it is getting its act together.
Just last month, the state announced formation of a team of the state's top hydrogen researchers as the S.C. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Alliance (www.schydrogen.org) to figure out a statewide plan for how to collaborate and streamline efforts to take advantage of the state's hydrogen assets. On Feb. 13, a new Center for Hydrogen Research in Aiken is set to open as a place to work on commercializing hydrogen products.
Also last month, Gov. Mark Sanford's budget proposed $448,000 in new spending at the state Department of Commerce to enhance hydrogen and fuel cell collaboration efforts through administrative support and planning. Another $2 million is proposed for the Clemson ICAR automotive research center.
"You've got to crawl before you walk," said Commerce chief of staff Tim Dangerfield. "Once you start crawling, you'll soon be walking to create opportunities."
Fred Humes of the Center for Hydrogen Research projects spin-off applications could lead to 40,000 new jobs over the next 20 years.
But to get those jobs here, the state and hydrogen research collaborators need to get a move on if South Carolina is to become a real hydrogen player. There's a concern that while South Carolina continues to plan, other states will grab opportunities and take them away, particularly the private investment that's needed to commercialize research.
"It's extremely important for us to identify a major project with major opportunities," said Garry Powers of Concurrent Technologies Corporation in Columbia, which offered another state hydrogen report in July 2005.
If state lawmakers want to make an impact on the process, they can put pressure on commerce officials and the alliance to prioritize the state's hydrogen agenda in short order.
But they have to be prepared in a year or so to take up a request for $10 million or even $50 million to invest in promising opportunities that can create jobs across the state.