An Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’

New York Times ^ | March 12, 2013 | By HIROKO TABUCHI

[Brad from Tennessee]

TOKYO — 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 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. The exact properties of undersea hydrates and how they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, however, as is the potential for making extraction commercially viable.

[thackney]

Production methods to date, including Japan’s, involved releasing the methane from the hydrate latices while still in place. Only the methane is brought to the surface.

Japan used a depressurizing method to release the methane in place. Reference: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/124983/Japanese_Firm_JOGMEC_in_Ice_Gas_Breakthrough

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Robert A. Cook, PE.

[Spartan79]

I appreciate you guys gently taking me to the woodshed about my error. I have not had any formal chemistry since sophomore chemistry in 1964 with old Mr Holmes. Holmes was a spry old WWI vet who was still capable of administering a sharp rap to the back of the head with a ruler when an errant student made a dumb mistake like that. He would not have been so gentle.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping.