BIKE: Re: Energy update

[Jeremy Elliott]

--- rcbaker wrote:
> If underwater methane is really a promising source 
> of energy in your opinion, then why don't you back
> it up by posting to  this list an internet link 
> describing exactly where underwater methane 
> hydrate is being harvested economically, and by
> whom.  

My quick search yeilded this article:
http://oceanography.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD5.3/sassen.html
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Right now there is worldwide interest in exploiting
energy from hydrates.

Published estimates of the total energy reserves
trapped in methane hydrate vary considerably, but all
the numbers emphasize this single point-the resource
potential of methane in gas hydrate exceeds the
combined worldwide reserves of conventional oil and
gas reservoirs, coal, and oil shale by a wide margin.
It is no secret that the world's production of
conventional fossil fuels will begin to decline
sometime during the next century. At that time, some
oil companies may go extinct or we might start
referring to them as hydrate companies. A great
opportunity to develop new technology will occur, and
ocean scientists will have the chance to contribute to
the future of our energy supply during that time of
change.

The first steps towards hydrate gas production will
occur soon, with the goal to recover natural gas by
decomposing hydrates from offshore deposits. A
research team from India is getting ready to begin an
applied research effort to drill wells in deep water,
and to learn how to produce gas hydrates. Similar
research is proceeding offshore near Japan. The
hydrate race has already begun.

...We have an open mind about hydrates as a future
energy source. Enormous volumes of natural gas vent
naturally to the deep waters of the gulf and at many
locations on continental margins offshore. This
natural gas supply currently goes unused, and
eventually escapes to the atmosphere. At the same
time, conventional gas reserves in ultra-deep water
will probably never be produced due to the high costs.
Why not produce gas hydrates industrially at the
seafloor from escaping gas? Manufacturing hydrates
from gas currently being lost to the water column
could help buffer future energy shocks. 



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I wonder how many fine, inspiring ideas in every walk of
life are strangled in the womb of the imagination
because there's no way past the gates of commerce?

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