surajmal Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 The state-owned oil and gas company JOGMEC said an exploration ship had successfully drilled 300 metres below the seabed into deposits of methane hydrate, an ice-like solid that stores gas molecules but requires great skill to extract safely. "Methane hydrates available within Japan's territorial waters may well be able to supply the nation's natural gas needs for a century," said the company, adding that the waters under exploration also contain large reserves of rare earth metals. Government officials said it was the world's first off-shore experiment of its kind, though Japan been working closely with the Canadians. The US and China have their own probes underway. The US Geological Survey said methane hydrates offer an "immense carbon reservoir", twice all other known fossil fuels on earth (illustrated in pie chart below). However, it warned that the ecological impact is "very poorly understood". The immediate discoveries in Japan's Eastern Tankai Trough are thought to hold 40 trillion cubic feet of methane, equal to eleven years gas imports. The company described the gas as "burnable ice", saying the trick is free it from a crystaline cage of water molecules by lowering the pressure. Tokyo hopes to bring the gas to market on a commercial scale within five years. The breakthrough comes after 17 years of research and several hundred million dollars of investment. It could be the answer to Japan's prayers, ending its reliance on expensive imports of fuel to meet almost all energy needs. The country's trade surplus has vanished since the government shut down all but two of its 54 nuclear reactors after the ***ushima disaster in 2011 and switched to other fuels, mostly liquefied natural gas (LNG). It imported a record 87m tonnes of LNG last year at roughly five times the cost of shale gas available to US chemical companies and key industries, putting Japanese firms at a huge disadvantage. Japan's Institute of Energy Economics said methane hydrate could be the "game-changer" that restores Japan's flagging fortunes, acting as a catalyst for revival much like the shale revolution in the US. The state oil group plans to drill as deep as 7,000 metres below the sea floor eventually, going out in seas with depth of up to 4,000 metres. Environmentalists are deeply alarmed by new focus on ice gas, fearing that it will set off a fresh energy race in the fragile eco-systems of the oceans and may cause landslides on the seabed. The risk of methane leakage into the atmosphere could be a major snag. The US Geological Survey says the gas has ten times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9924836/Japan-cracks-seabed-ice-gas-in-dramatic-leap-for-global-energy.html So how much longer before the middle east is discarded to the dustbin of history? 3...4 decades? Will be a great moment for the progress of human civilization.
hhunaeh Posted March 13, 2013 Posted March 13, 2013 Seems like the article missed some important bits of information Here is another one with more info on how japan and India are trying to catch up with USA and china http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-12/asians-hunt-gas-treasure-locked-in-ice-beneath-seabeds-energy.html Japan and India, Asia's biggest energy consumers after China, are closer to unlocking natural gas deposits trapped in ice below the seabed that may prove bigger than the world's known fossil-fuel reserves. Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corp. said yesterday it produced gas in the world's first offshore test to extract the fuel from the frozen depths. A team including Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), India's biggest energy explorer, will drill off the east coast this year and try to produce the fuel, according to two officials at the regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. They asked to not be named before the official announcement. India is drilling for frozen gas it has preliminarily estimated to be as large as 1,894 trillion cubic meters, according to the website of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the oil and gas exploration and production regulator. Bay of Bengal India, which discovered methane hydrates in the Bay of Bengal off its east coast, will later this year drill a few wells and engage in some test production to determine the size of the resource, a person familiar with the program said. Scientists have also found traces of conventional gas under the layer of hydrates on the ocean floor, the person said. Oil & Natural Gas Chairman Sudhir Vasudeva didn't answer calls to his telephone seeking comment on the company's plan to extract methane from hydrates.
gs Posted March 13, 2013 Posted March 13, 2013 ^^^All set for a methane-gate scam of a zillion crores!!
hhunaeh Posted March 14, 2013 Posted March 14, 2013 scam or no scam, we'd still do a better job than the lazy princes from middle east
Recommended Posts