Gamechanging Natural Gas Tech Gets Green Light

[Graeme]

Gamechanging Natural Gas Tech Gets Green Light

In April, the U.S. Department of Energy and an international consortium of major oil and gas companies completed an unprecedented two-month proof-of-concept test in the North Slope of Alaska. The experiment was supposed to show that a steady flow of methane molecules could be extracted from a substance known as methane or gas hydrates submerged under the sea floor.

It worked and the world moved one step closer to tapping gas hydrates, the most abundant fossil fuel resource on Earth.

Gas hydrates consist of a crystalline substance in which methane molecules – the primary component of natural gas – are trapped in a lattice of water molecules.

“The energy content of methane in hydrate form is immense, possibly exceeding the combined energy content of all other known fossil fuels,” according to the Energy Department.

forbes

[seahorse3]

There's hope yet for my bet on CNLE as the next Walmart.

[Graeme]

DOE will fund 14 methane hydrate research projects

The US Department of Energy has selected 14 methane hydrate research projects in 11 states to receive up to $559 million of federal funding. The awards build on a successful, unprecedented test earlier this year where a steady flow of natural gas was safely extracted from methane hydrates on Alaska’s North Slope, DOE said.

DOE said the projects, which will be managed by the department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, will advance understanding of the nature and occurrence of deepwater and arctic gas hydrates and their implications for future resource development and environmental performance.

The worldwide volume of natural gas held in methane hydrates is immense, but poorly known, according to NETL. Estimates range from 100,000 tcf to more than 1 million tcf, it said.

DOE said that prior research it has supported and outside studies have confirmed that the resource volume apparently is substantial, and amounts which can be explored for and produced using existing technologies are tremendous.

The 14 new projects will focus research on field programs for deepwater hydrate characterization, the response of hydrate systems to changing climates, and advances in the understanding of hydrate-bearing deposits, DOE said.

ogj

[ralfy]

According to the IEA, we should see a 9-pct increase in energy production from all oil and gas resources worldwide for the next two decades. Demand, meanwhile, may have to rise around 2 pct a year to ensure global economic growth.

However, the energy production increase is based on the assumption that conventional production will not decline.

[Expatriot]

This website would be so much more indicative of future events if Graeme were not allowed to post his/her constant stream of cornucopian fantasies.

No data are provided.

They, essentially, forced Nitrogen and CO2 into the ground and a "steady stream" of methane came out.

Please. Small scale or not, let's talk about how much energy was consumed to produce the "steady stream."

Fantasy.

[seenmostofit]

This website would be so much more indicative of future events if Graeme were not allowed to post his/her constant stream of cornucopian fantasies.

It strikes me that current news and studies posted by Graeme certainly aren't cornucopian fantasy, but evidence of the transition in progress. Allowing only those who agree with you to discuss a topic is wonderful only for reinforcing one's own preconceived notion.

You are advocating nothing more than the worst kind of censorship, and it reflects poorly on ideas in common acceptance that they cannot withstand even a mention of any other conclusions.

Try thinking outside the box on occasional, it only hurts for a minute, and opens up a world of wonderful newness.