[Twilight]

If we have to strip-mine the floor of the Arctic, that means we have a problem, right?

[americandream]

That's how the dream factory starts...with half a loaf of bread and just one slice of ham to make a sandwich.

[steam_cannon]

Clathrates Hydrates may protect us from "Iceball Earth" scenarios...
And dredging could cause tsunamis...


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('To quote myself...', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shallow thinker', 'C')lathrates... ...Better to burn it before it melts on it's own from global warming

[Graeme]

Frozen Gas Hydrates Off New Zealand Holds Substantial Gas Resources

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rozen gas hydrates which lies just below the seabed deep off New Zealand's East Coast may contain a future resource of over 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, says Stuart Henrys, a senior research scientist at GNS Science.

Research shows that sheets of gas hydrates, made up of ice-like crystals of water and methane molecules intermixed with sediments, are found over 50,000 sq km from offshore Marlborough to offshore Gisborne.

[solarpoweredlasers]

I hope we're never silly enough to actually try and use them.

[TheAntiDoomer]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090323143858.htm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n the future, natural gas derived from chunks of ice that workers collect from beneath the ocean floor and beneath the arctic permafrost may fuel cars, heat homes, and power factories. Government researchers are reporting that these so-called "gas hydrates," a frozen form of natural gas that bursts into flames at the touch of a match, show increasing promise as an abundant, untapped source of clean, sustainable energy.

[davep]

Who wants more Glob?

[Tyler_JC]

Clean?

We're talking about methane hydrates. AKA, natural gas in solid form.

There might be fewer particulate emissions but we're still talking about a huge quantity of carbon dioxide and methane.

We would still have serious climate change problems.

[anador]

Methane hydrates can only form and remain stable at certain temperatures and pressures on the ocean floor. They are formed as natural gas vents from the crust through these cold, deep regions of the ocean. It would be easier to collect the natural gas venting in the area of the formations rather than the incidental formations themselves. They can only form in the presence of bountiful natural gas, it would be easier and more efficient to just get the gas from the underground deposit rather than this completely frivolous curiosity.

It seems that whenever someone takes something from the ocean and sets it on fire it's suddenly hailed as the new energy solution.

[sameu]

lol good luck with mining that stuff

[Minvaren]

The stuff is being dumped into our atmosphere at an increasing rate with the permafrost melting faster than ever. There have also been writeups in Discover talking about how "it's all over" if one of these large pockets of it under the sea floor gets to the surface.

I am beginning to get the impression that this is a "we're stuffed either way" issue - because burning it increases greenhouse gases, but enough methane in the atmosphere gives us bigger problems.

[copious.abundance]

Hey check this out. There's lots of this stuff in Alaska's North Slope too! And the USGS says lots of it is already "technically recoverable!"

http://www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/111208.html

Maybe that gas pipeline from Alaska is a good idea after all.

[copious.abundance]

In the case of these Alaskan deposits, for some reason most of them do not appear to be located underwater. I can't tell from the article *where* they're located, but most of their study area is on land.

[copious.abundance]

I think this is the crux of these Alaskan deposits:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')“For more than 25 years, the USGS has conducted gas hydrate research in northern Alaska, showing the investment of our agency in understanding this resource,” said USGS Director Mark Myers. “This is especially important now that a growing body of evidence indicates that concentrated gas hydrate accumulations in conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as those in northern Alaska, can be produced with existing technology.”

Among the various techniques for production of natural gas from gas hydrates, depressurization appears to be the most promising method. This involves changing the pressure of the hydrate accumulation, which changes the resource from a solid state into components of gas and water that can be produced to the surface. Depressurization was the only production technique assessed in this estimate.

[The_Toecutter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'C')lean?

We're talking about methane hydrates. AKA, natural gas in solid form.

There might be fewer particulate emissions but we're still talking about a huge quantity of carbon dioxide and methane.

We would still have serious climate change problems.

[anador]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilFinder2', 'I') think this is the crux of these Alaskan deposits:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')“For more than 25 years, the USGS has conducted gas hydrate research in northern Alaska, showing the investment of our agency in understanding this resource,” said USGS Director Mark Myers. “This is especially important now that a growing body of evidence indicates that concentrated gas hydrate accumulations in conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as those in northern Alaska, can be produced with existing technology.”

Among the various techniques for production of natural gas from gas hydrates, depressurization appears to be the most promising method. This involves changing the pressure of the hydrate accumulation, which changes the resource from a solid state into components of gas and water that can be produced to the surface. Depressurization was the only production technique assessed in this estimate.