Methane Hydrate
Posted on 03/21/2010 1:29:01 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
When methane and freezing cold water fuse under tremendous pressure, they create a substance as paradoxical as it coveted: burning ice. Earlier in the year, a report from the National Research Council identified the combustible water, also known as methane hydrate, as a potential source of natural gas. Now, according to the Chinese news organization Xinhau, China is joining the US, Japan, and South Korea in the hunt for this weird mineral.
Icy Hot : courtesy of NASAAs explained in this comic, there's 85.4 trillion cubic feet of methane hydrate buried under Alaska. That's equivalent to 3 billion tons of oil, or enough to heat 100 million American homes for a decade. According to the Xinahu article, reserves of methane hydrate in China's Qinghai province are equal to 35 billion tons of oil, enough to supply China for 90 years.
Unfortunately, China lacks the capability to excavate the mineral. Even at an expedited pace, China's Ministry of Land and Resources estimates it could be 10 to 15 years before any hydrate-derived gas finds its way into Chinese homes
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
Ping. Also adding other energy innovation links. FRegards ....
Those are some mighty big numbers they’re throwing around.
New Energy: Helium-3, bloom box, and pebble bed reactors
Researchers and space enthusiasts see helium-3 as the perfect fuel source:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html
extremely potent, nonpolluting, with virtually no radioactive ...
Helium-3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3
Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel
http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2006/12/72276
Helium-3 is considered a safe, environmentally friendly fuel candidate for these generators, and while it is scarce on Earth it is plentiful ...
Pebble Bed Reactor
http://pebblebedreactor.blogspot.com
Pebble bed reactor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor
The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? - 60 Minutes - CBS NewsFeb 18, 2010
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml
First Customers Say Energy Machine Works And Saves Money.
Is K.R. Sridhar’s ‘magic box’ ready for prime time? - Fortune ...
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/
The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video) — EngadgetFeb 22, 2010
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/the-bloom-box-a-power-plant-for-the-home-video/
Those two blocks can power the average high-consumption American home — one block can power the average European home.
This sounds similar to napalm or sulfur. If a fire burns hotly enough, water only adds oxygen.
I thought the Enviro weenies said using methane hydrates would cause a chain reaction that would cause catastrophic global warming, I guess that was only if we and not China do it......
Stay away from our Alaskan Ice!!!
We bought it fair and square and we’re not giving it back!
Alaska’s reserves will be depleted 20 years from now if it’s harvested. That’s not really a big number.
There is no way in hell Obama will let us get at this stuff.
Assuming that it replaces all other natural gas use in the USA?
Please add me to this ping list, thank you.
“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
I have been talking about this ocean floor stuff for years. IT is pretty clear to me that this is the source of petroleum. Subducted methane.
“Unfortunately, China lacks the capability to excavate the mineral.”
Nothing unfortunate about it. The more they are technologically delayed the better for us.
I think there was a post on FR about this earlier wherein Salazar nixed any US development of methane as an energy source - wind and solar only in US future.
> This sounds similar to napalm or sulfur. If a fire burns hotly enough, water only adds oxygen.
I’ve seen and held seen this stuff before. It’s more like waxy mothballs than anything else; but it burns like a can of Sterno except that the evolved steam from the water brings the temperature down a bit and the flame is yellow-orange instead of blue. To use this stuff effectively, you’d need to separate the methane from the water.
I’m not really an energy pinger. Just know a few FRiends who were interested. Best bet might be to check the key word list. FRegards ....
Thank you FRiend.
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