Could methane be humanity’s 1,000-year fuel?

[Valin]

The Enterprise Blog:

Kenneth P. Green

May 3 2012

 

Lest it be said that I don’t give credit where credit is due, the Department of Energy just announced the results of an experiment they conducted (with ConocoPhillips) to liberate methane (the main component of natural gas) from methane hydrates, an icy mixture of water and methane that forms under high pressure and low temperatures.

 

The world is remarkably rich in methane hydrates, offering the tantalizing possibility that we could power all of humanity’s energy needs for 1,000 years if we can figure out how to recover them cost-effectively.

 

 

In a nutshell, what the experiment showed was that one can pump carbon dioxide and nitrogen down into a methane hydrate deposit, dislodge the methane, and free it up for extraction.

 

The energy-optimist in me finds this idea very exciting: A world powered by inexpensive, unlimited, clean-burning natural gas is the stuff of utopian science fiction movies. And as Vaclav Smil pointed out, we’re already part of the way there.

 

(Snip)