Posted on 01/29/2010 7:59:19 AM PST by decimon
WASHINGTON – Naturally occurring methane hydrate may represent an enormous source of methane, the main component of natural gas, and could ultimately augment conventional natural gas supplies, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Although a number of challenges require attention before commercial production can be realized, no technical challenges have been identified as insurmountable. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy's Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program has made considerable progress in the past five years toward understanding and developing methane hydrate as a possible energy resource.
"DOE's program and programs in the national and international research community provide increasing confidence from a technical standpoint that some commercial production of methane from methane hydrate could be achieved in the United States before 2025," said Charles Paull, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and senior scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. "With global energy demand projected to increase, unconventional resources such as methane hydrate become important to consider as part of the future U.S. energy portfolio and could help provide more energy security for the United States."
Methane hydrate, a solid composed of methane and water, occurs in abundance on the world's continental margins and in permafrost regions, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's North Slope. Although the total global volume of methane in methane hydrate is still debated, estimates yield figures that are significant compared with the global supplies of conventional natural gas. The existence of such a large and untapped energy resource has provided a strong global incentive to determine how methane might be produced from methane hydrate safely, economically, and in an environmentally sensible way.
Some of the remaining challenges to production identified by the committee include developing the technology necessary to produce methane from methane hydrate and understanding methane hydrate's potential to behave as a geohazard. For example, industry practice is to avoid methane-hydrate bearing areas during drilling for conventional oil and gas resources for safety reasons. However, avoidance will not be possible if methane hydrate is the production target. In addition, the committee recommended research and development areas for DOE's program, such as designing production tests, appraising and mitigating environmental issues related to production, and determining with greater accuracy the methane hydrate resources on the Alaska North Slope and in marine reservoirs.
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The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter. Committee members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf. A committee roster follows.
Copies of REALIZING THE ENERGY POTENTIAL OF METHANE HYDRATE FOR THE UNITED STATES are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at HTTP://WWW.NAP.EDU. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
[ This news release and report are available at HTTP://NATIONAL-ACADEMIES.ORG ]
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Earth and Life Studies Board on Earth Sciences and Resources Ocean Studies Board Polar Research Board
COMMITTEE ON ASSESSMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S METHANE HYDRATE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: EVALUATING METHANE HYDRATES AS A FUTURE ENERGY RESOURCE
CHARLES PAULL (CHAIR) Senior Scientist Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Moss Landing, Calif.
SCOTT R. DALLIMORE Research Scientist Terrain Sciences Division Geological Survey of Canada Sidney, British Columbia
GONZALO ENCISO Geological Adviser Shell E&P Technology Co. Houston
SIDNEY J. GREEN * President and CEO TerraTek (retired); Manager of Geomechanics Business Development Schlumberger Data and Consulting Services; and Research Professor University of Utah Salt Lake City
CAROLYN KOH Associate Professor Department of Chemical Engineeing Colorado School of Mines Golden
KEITH A. KVENVOLDEN Senior Scientist U.S. Geological Survey (retired) Palo Alto, Calif.
CHARLES J. MANKIN Director Oklahoma Geological Survey (retired) Norman
WILLIAM S. REEBURGH Professor Emeritus of Marine and Terrestrial Biogeochemistry University of California Irvine
MICHAEL RIEDEL Research Scientist Geological Survey of Canada Sidney, British Columbia
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
ELIZABETH A. EIDE Study Director
* Member, National Academy of Engineering
Still waters ping.
Thackney bump
This is one of my pet causes. There is more energy down there than we can imagine.
In a way it's like sunlight. If we could just capture more of it then we'd have all the energy we need. Right now, methane hydrate looks more promising.
Methane Hydrate is a bonus as far as I'm concerned, keep them coming.
At our current consumption level. But because it's there, everyone wants to use it for everything.
Will never happen. That sentence fragment tells it all. Until the left is utterly defeated and the federal courts purged we will never be allowed by our government to achieve energy Independence and cheap plentiful energy.
You never know. Right now it's thought that the peaceniks are leftist and the warmongers rightist but I don't think that would pass any historical test. This too could reverse.
Did you pick up on the big discovery by McMoRan, called the Davey Jones Prospect, off Louisiana a week or so ago?
Estimates of the size of the discovery range from 2 trillion to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, rivaling the largest gas finds ever made in the Gulf. But the companies said they will have to do further drilling to confirm the resource potential.
Our current ostrich in chief (with head up a closer hole than sand) does not want to hear, think or see methane hydrates. This monstrous resource is all about hydrocarbons doncha know, and these pos' would rather federalize all energy resources in the psuedo-kindness called Very Expensive Green Energy. Green jobs for all the good little commies; smart grids so they can see your energy usage and cut you off or curtail your usage; cram the sheeple into green mini-death trap mobiles, high speed light rails to nowhere which will lose more money than a casino full of grannies and grampas for a year's worth of Sundays.
THAT'S WHAT THEY DEMAND
We in the US use natural gas by the quadrillions of cubic feet.
In the US we use 21~23 Trillion Cubic feet per year.
I should have said that we will be using natural gas by the quadrillions of cubic feet. Our usage is rising and will rise quite a bit more if we increase our usage of natural gas for power generation and transportation. The point would be that our having a 100 year reserve is not realistic without new reserves. Methane hydrate would do the trick.
Why would they take chances like this when there is so much methane just waiting to be pumped out?
I think it all comes down to what's possible and at what cost.
I quite agree on all points.
Cost is what I point to with regards peak oil. As of today there is just so much affordable oil. By next week that amount could double due to some new drilling technique. We’ll know when we do.
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