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Not as difficult as one might think. Consider such an effort as the first step to breaking the power of various cartels in the world. We already have the methods of deep exploration, and methan hydrate seems to be in generous supply all over the ocean bottoms. A bottom dredge, easier to put down than drilling for oil or gas from a rig anchored out in the Gulf of Mexico, would pull up the crystals of methane hydrate, keeping them cold until they could be expanded in a collection unit and recompressed into liquid natural gas, from where they could be shipped all over the world. Compressed natural gas, all by itself, is a satisfactory fuel source for internal combustion engines, with far less pollution potential than even the most carefully refined gasoline or Diesel. The only reason for it not being already widely adopted is the comparative difficulty in distributing to fuel stations and fueling of vehicles, as compared to refined gasoline. Distribution is easy enough, just use the natural gas pipelines that already exist, but there is the problem of fueling. Swapping out a filled tank for an empty? High-pressure refilling of the on-vehicle tank? Cryogenic storage of the methane?

I see a LOT of potential for engineering here.