Posted on 01/25/2010 4:54:49 AM PST by thackney
Vast deposits of methane, trapped in icelike crystals under Alaska's frozen tundra and beneath ocean floors worldwide, could play an important role in the nation's energy future.
But after more than two decades of study, major oil companies and governments are still trying to crack the code to large-scale extraction of these energy rich substances called gas hydrates.
Wickrema Singhe, a Houston-based engineer and project consultant to some of the world's biggest oil companies, has wrestled with the same problem. And recently, he's developed a technology he believes could provide at least part of the answer.
The technology involves using low-energy microwaves to melt the icy structures and unlock the gas, in contrast to leading industry methods that Singhe says use far more energy or are too costly for commercial production.
The concept has attracted interest from oil companies including BP and Chevron Corp., as well as Japanese oil and gas firms.
He hasn't found a taker yet, but he fervently believes in the concept and is pitching for universities including Texas A&M to do more testing.
“I'm fairly confident I'll find a way to get to the next step,” Singhe said.
Gas hydrates are ice-like solids that trap gas molecules inside. They are found in high-pressure, low-temperature environments, like seabeds and beneath frozen ground. The most common gas found in them is methane, the chief component of natural gas. That's why they're often called methane hydrates.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that methane hydrates may contain more energy than all the world's fossil fuels combined.
As such, methane hydrates could represent a “global paradigm shift in energy supply,” Ray Boswell, manager for methane hydrate research and development programs at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, told a U.S. congressional committee in July.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Cool, Nuke it....so to speak.
“...pitching for universities including Texas A&M to do more testing.”
Or if you want it done right, ask UT-Austin.
That sounds illegal.
Why?
CO2 has long been injected in oil fields to increase the amount of recovered oil.
Well, leave it to big oil to find new ways of endangering the planet with dangerous pollutants like C02.
Both methods trap the CO2 underground.
So say you! In the meantime, all big oil has done is switch one greenhouse gas for another that is more dangerous to the planet. Hopefully the EPA will stop big oil from using CO2 in any way. Then we can ALL rest easier!
If you really believe CO2 is so dangerous, maybe you should stop exhaling it.
I understand that the EPA is looking at that very issue in their Geological Airborne Scientific committee study. The preliminary results of their studies reveal that people outside the big cities emit far more of this harmful toxin than any people at any time in the history of man. Alaskans are the biggest offenders. We all anxiously await the Geological Airborne Scientific Bringing All Good study. Their regulations will do wonders I tell you!
Dumb@$$ post of the week — so far...
(For the last nine years, satellite data shows carbon dioxide going UP, while temperature has gone DOWN...)
That chart can’t be right - there’s no hockey stick in it.
Btw - tagline says it all my FRiend.
It is not easy for a guy like me to write that stuff. It’s kind of fun actually - you can be stupid without ever having to own up to it.
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