Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumAn Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/global/japan-says-it-is-first-to-tap-methane-hydrate-deposit.htmlTOKYO Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate sometimes called flammable ice a breakthrough that officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still little-understood energy source.
The gas, whose extraction from the undersea hydrate was thought to be a world first, could provide an alternative source of energy to known oil and gas reserves. That could be crucial especially for Japan, which is the worlds biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and is engaged in a public debate about whether to resume the countrys heavy reliance on nuclear power.
Experts estimate that the carbon found in gas hydrates worldwide totals at least twice the amount of carbon in all of the earths other fossil fuels, making it a potential game-changer for energy-poor countries like Japan. The exact properties of undersea hydrates and how they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, however, as is the potential for making extraction commercially viable.
Japan has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the early 2000s to explore offshore methane hydrate reserves in both the Pacific and the Sea of Japan. That task has become all the more pressing after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, which has all but halted Japans nuclear energy program and caused a sharp increase in the countrys fossil fuel imports.
How about a game-changer for the planet???
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Embarrassed to admit I first learned about this source of energy from watching Dallas. Nope, not kidding.
Editing to add, after reading some of the other comments here, yeah, certainly reason for concern.
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)"they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, however, as is the potential for making extraction commercially viable. "
What could possibly go wrong?
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)I'm sure we can handle any problems that come up. We're real smart, after all - we have degrees in engineering and everything!
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)hollysmom
(5,946 posts)Dinosaurs was 80% of life, this was 95% - can't find the link now though.
Anyway, to get back on topic - they said that This was a volcano/methyl hydrate extinction in the first the volcano caused a warming of the planet by 5 deg Celsius, that caused the oceans to warm and the gas reserves were thawed and bubbled to the surface and that caused another warming of 5 deg C. I can't remember the details, but maybe you can find it.
cprise
(8,445 posts)IIRC it wasn't the only major extinction where evaporation of methane hydrates intensified the warming.
wtmusic
(39,166 posts)hatrack
(59,592 posts)GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)"Green skies at night, humanity's big plight..."
hatrack
(59,592 posts)"Green skies
Makin' me see . . .
Thinkin' of species'
Mortality"
pscot
(21,024 posts)in our brief tenure here. We have to be the worst single mistake god has ever made.
CRH
(1,553 posts)What could possibly be there that won't add to emissions. Nothing you say, you burn it you reap the consequence? I write this with the Joker staring at me, for a reason.
NickB79
(19,258 posts)This might make your previous prediction look tame, if it takes off.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Nihil
(13,508 posts)Yeah, I think your bet is becoming safer with each new headline ...
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Bonus - beach will be a shorter drive!