Methane hydrate crystals show promise as a clean energy source
By Stuart Fox Posted 03.11.2010 at 2:12 pm 20 Comments

When methane and freezing cold water fuse under tremendous pressure, they create a substance as paradoxical as it coveted: burning ice. Earlier in the year, a report from the National Research Council identified the combustible water, also known as methane hydrate, as a potential source of natural gas. Now, according to the Chinese news organization Xinhau, China is joining the US, Japan, and South Korea in the hunt for this weird mineral.

Icy Hot :  courtesy of NASA
As explained in this comic, there's 85.4 trillion cubic feet of methane hydrate buried under Alaska. That's equivalent to 3 billion tons of oil, or enough to heat 100 million American homes for a decade. According to the Xinahu article, reserves of methane hydrate in China's Qinghai province are equal to 35 billion tons of oil, enough to supply China for 90 years.

Unfortunately, China lacks the capability to excavate the mineral. Even at an expedited pace, China's Ministry of Land and Resources estimates it could be 10 to 15 years before any hydrate-derived gas finds its way into Chinese homes.

[Discovery News]

20 Comments

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mitEj
03/11/10 at 3:50 pm

isn't this the stuff that is melting and releasing ridiculous amounts of Methane into the atmosphere in Siberia ?

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d.r.w._math_science
03/11/10 at 5:53 pm

Ice on fire??!???!??? Thats like walking outside in the early morning (As I sometimes do) and seeing the moon still in the sky but the sun shining bright on the other end of the sky!!! Its very strange to see these two complete opposites together...

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sbryant1286
03/11/10 at 6:14 pm

im all for innovation, and replacing some of the dirtier fuels...but i read "The Swarm by Frank Schatzing" , and im wondering how much thought is going into how mining methane hydrate will affect the eco system down there, which will on some scale effect us.... up here.

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M.Hat
03/11/10 at 7:53 pm

This is old news.

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M.Hat
03/11/10 at 7:53 pm

This is old news.

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3DTOPO
03/11/10 at 8:44 pm

Clean energy source???

When burned it release CO2 into the atmosphere.

How is it any "cleaner" than burning fossil fuel or coal???

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kormiko
03/12/10 at 1:22 am

This is the reason why many oil and power companies hate solar and wind power tech. It's not due to their inefficiencies. It's because they want a limited substance (such as this burning ice) so that they can control the energy of the world. Sun and wind is basically everywhere and there isn't a C. Montgomery Burns to block out the sun ... or is there?

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Alfi2009
03/12/10 at 2:14 pm

The future is electric ... enventually

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rockne1865
03/14/10 at 3:41 am

Hydrocarbon
lessons in Hydrocarbon Chemistry 101 the more carbon a Hydrocarbon contains the more CO2 it makes when you burn it I.E. combine it with oxygen (the C stands for Carbon) So coal (Which is a solid has the most carbon and gases have the least) Coal makes the most CO2 and it has Mercury in it and Sulfur , and leaves behind radioactive ash. Oil has less carbon and sulfur makes less CO2, gases contain even less carbon and make the least CO2 Class dismissed.
P.S. Next week we will learn about the Hydro part in Hydrocarbon

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rockne1865
03/14/10 at 3:41 am

Hydrocarbon
lessons in Hydrocarbon Chemistry 101 the more carbon a Hydrocarbon contains the more CO2 it makes when you burn it I.E. combine it with oxygen (the C stands for Carbon) So coal (Which is a solid has the most carbon and gases have the least) Coal makes the most CO2 and it has Mercury in it and Sulfur , and leaves behind radioactive ash. Oil has less carbon and sulfur makes less CO2, gases contain even less carbon and make the least CO2 Class dismissed.
P.S. Next week we will learn about the Hydro part in Hydrocarbon

Link to this comment
The Famous
03/15/10 at 2:53 pm

I'll never find another girl like you,
for happy endings it takes two
We're fire and ice,
the dream won't come true.

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china-popsci
03/18/10 at 2:31 am

its a sort of energy but not clean, Now, the tech is not mature enough to explore it, so its better to let it sleep under the earth.

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SlushiTee3092
03/21/10 at 11:43 am

@3dtpo

well anything we do has an effect on the environment including taking a dump and breathing. maybe this releases significantly less amount of carbon

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gwugluud
03/25/10 at 8:45 am

SIGH, another perfectly viable form of energy. (yawn).
Yet another new form of energy is discovered in spite of our government and its' boyfriend Saudi Arabia's efforts to keep it under wraps.
Be assured that this is the last we'll EVER hear of it.

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martindanny
03/25/10 at 10:09 am

news organization Xinhau...According to the Xinahu article...
Note that it is "XinHua" no all the above.

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djfrackles
03/27/10 at 2:12 pm

So this is what hell is going to be made up of... We'll burn AND freeze at the same time.

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bbowers
05/19/10 at 8:53 pm

Extracting the methane for fuel from this ice would reduce our use of foreign fuel.

Beecher Bowers
www.beecherbowers.com

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Ludwig2010
08/17/10 at 6:27 am

SIGH, another perfectly viable form of energy. (yawn).
Yet another new form of energy is discovered in spite of our government and its' boyfriend Saudi Arabia's efforts to keep it under wraps.
Be assured that this is the last we'll EVER hear of it.

Ludwing
http://burnwiigames.org/

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alasiri4
12/03/10 at 1:04 pm

So this is what hell is going to be made up of... We'll burn AND freeze at the same time.
www.tran33m.com/vb/


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