An Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’
From The New York Times
By Hiroko Tabuchi
Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate — sometimes called “flammable ice” — a breakthrough that officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still little-understood energy source.
The gas, whose extraction from the undersea hydrate reservoir was thought to be a world first, could provide an alternative source of energy to known oil and gas reserves. That could be crucial especially for Japan, which is the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and is engaged in a public debate about whether to resume the country’s heavy reliance on nuclear power.
Experts estimate that the carbon found in gas hydrates worldwide totals at least twice the amount of carbon in all of the earth’s other fossil fuels, making it a potential game-changer for energy-poor countries like Japan. Researchers had already successfully extracted gas from onshore methane hydrate reservoirs, but not from beneath the seabed, where much of the world’s deposits are thought to lie.
The exact properties of undersea hydrates and how they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, given that methane is a greenhouse gas. Japan has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the early 2000s to explore offshore methane hydrate reserves in both the Pacific and the Sea of Japan.
Jacques Volpert June 10, 2013 at 3:16 am
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one’s site, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
Levi Shinabarger June 18, 2013 at 2:58 am
I’m impressed, I need to say. Really hardly ever do I encounter a weblog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me let you know, you may have hit the nail on the head. Your thought is excellent; the problem is one thing that not sufficient people are talking intelligently about. I’m very joyful that I stumbled throughout this in my search for something referring to this.
Deshawn Hrabal June 18, 2013 at 11:00 am
you will have a great blog here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?