Japan extracts gas from methane hydrate in world first

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21752441

by akandiah • 13 years ago

58 22 13 years ago

bbc.co.uk

transfire• 13 years ago

We could just start burning old people. More energy, less social security. Double win!

runarb• 13 years ago

They are already planing for that in the UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/8917633/A-dead-heat-...

jakozaur• 13 years ago

If we could extract them at economic prices, that could have enormous significance.

The resources of methane hydrate are enormous. By some estimates there are more of them there other fossils: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/gas-hydrates/

On the other hand, if they start leaking we will have incredible strong greenhouse effect...

uvdiv• 13 years ago

Wikipedia claims those estimates are obsolete, and the new ones are an order of magnitude smaller:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate#Reservoir_si...

In which case the largest fossil-fuel resource is coal.

panacea• 13 years ago

Extracting and burning for energy is leaking.

smackay2• 13 years ago

Methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide so you really need to burn it rather than just let it escape. Of course it just might be better to leave it frozen at the bottom of the ocean.

ryanmolden• 13 years ago

The last New Scientist had an article on this. The primary unknown/concern was structurally destabilizing the seabed by extracting the methane. They were talking about replacing it with CO2 to keep the seabed stable, but said that was really only an idea and just extracting it was safe, you know, until the massive tsunami they cause kills 100,000 people <morbid joke/>

webwielder• 13 years ago

I'm reminded of Homer Simpson confessing during an AA meeting that he was so desperate for a drink he ate the dirt under the bleachers at the football stadium.

C'mon world, enough with the fossil fuels.

OGinparadise• 13 years ago

C'mon world, enough with the fossil fuels.

Easier said than done. Meanwhile Japan wants to power its factories, heat its homes and we want to pay 0.10 cents /KWh

PakG1• 13 years ago

Especially complicated after Fukushima's effect on popular domestic opinion regarding nuclear power.

ajays• 13 years ago

Other, viable (and possibly clean) solutions: Solar electric. Solar thermal. Thorium.

Not every source of energy _must_ involve burning stuff and releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere.

jgamman2• 13 years ago

i have a thing about mis-spelt units - it's a kWh /nitpick

also, did you mean 0.10 $/kWh ?

snogglethorpe• 13 years ago

FWIW, the electricity rate for me (near Tokyo) is about ¥25/kWh (so approx $0.25/kWh with current exchange rates).

protomyth• 13 years ago

When someone comes up with something that has all the positive characteristics of fossil fuel (handling and delivery, storage, easy taxing, all weather) then people will switch.

youngerdryas• 13 years ago

To match the energy contained in a gallon of gasoline, we would have to lift 13 tons of water (3500 gallons) one kilometer high (3,280 feet). With that kind of energy density and its established infrastructure it will be hard to dislodge.

jgamman2• 13 years ago

or sink the wellhead processing unit to the sea floor...

zdgman• 13 years ago

This is the start of building technology that should hopefully satisfy South Korea's need for more vespene gas.

graeham• 13 years ago

Too bad natural gas is trading about what it was in 1980 (largely from lot of new supply from fracking), and about 60% below its peak in 2009 - at least in the US [1]. Although prices in Japan are about 5X higher [2]

1 - http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n9190us3a.htm

2 - http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-natural-gas-prices-resha...

Japan extracts gas from methane hydrate in world first

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