The quest for “fire ice” is apparently heating up.
In mid-May, the China Geographical Society announced that it had successfully mined gas hydrates from deep under the floor of the South China Sea.
Known as “fire ice” or “flammable ice,” gas hydrates occur where methane is frozen in ice. Methane potential from the earth’s hydrate reserves is greater than the combined energy content of all other known fossil fuels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
However, given the predominantly remote, sub-zero regions where hydrates occur, and the volatility of the gas, only small-scale field experiments have taken place to date.
The China Geographical Society says its “historic breakthrough” entailed extracting about 16,000 cubic metres (565,000 cubic feet) of methane a day from samples mined 200 metres under the sea bed.
Japan, the United States and Canada have also undertaken pilot projects to determine the feasibility of harvesting this frozen gas, which is generally created either on submarine continental slopes or in deep ocean floor sediment, as a result of combined pressure and temperature.
Earlier in May, Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy confirmed the production of natural gas, following a test to dissolve methane hydrate at an offshore site.
In this first chapter of our Blue Flame Bounty series, we look at the upside of natural gas as a fuel for large transportation fleets, and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles
In this third chapter of our series, we look at Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), a small but growing waste-to-energy stream with plenty of practical potential.
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