[Spartan79]

You can, of course, expect rending of garments and great wailing and gnashing of teeth from the greenies among us, whose most fervent dream is a world populated by a few million starving wretches sitting huddled around fires of buffalo dung. Burning these methyl hyrates produces methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

[JimRed]

Burning these methyl hyrates produces methane...

Does that mean you can get twice the bang for buck from it, by burning the hydrate for the heat and collecting the methane to be burned in another application?

[Robert A Cook PE]

You can, of course, expect rending of garments and great wailing and gnashing of teeth from the greenies among us, whose most fervent dream is a world populated by a few million starving wretches sitting huddled around fires of buffalo dung. Burning these methyl hydrates produces methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

And more accessible energy then, which "also" produces greenhouse gasses, right? Hmmmn. Can anybody recall a recent debate about banning and restricting and socializing international sea floor technology and resources?

Nothing radical, of course, just “Law of the Sea” or some such. Nothing important about the US signing away (to the UN, African dictatorships, china, and everybody in any 3rd world nation anywhere that wants in on the “free action” of undersea future energy sources .....

[MHGinTN]

It is methane which is captured in the crystalline structure of the hydrates. The methane is what gets oxidized in the burning. A very tiny trace of methane may not get oxidized, but burning techniques will render a greater percentage of oxidation if scientists play with it sufficiently.

[thackney]

Burning these methyl hyrates produces methane

No, this hydrate is methane, physically trapped in a water/ice latices but not chemically bonded together.

Burning the hydrate is burning the methane. Only water vapor and carbon dioxide is produced.