Japan mines / extracts methane from hydrates

[madd0ct0r]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21752441

Japan says it has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate off its central coast, in a world first.

Methane hydrates, or clathrates, are a type of frozen "cage" of molecules of methane and water.

The gas field is about 50km away from Japan's main island, in the Nankai Trough.

Researchers say it could provide an alternative energy source for Japan which imports all its energy needs.

Other countries including Canada, the US and China have been looking into ways of exploiting methane hydrate deposits as well.

Pilot experiments in recent years, using methane hydrates found under land ice, have shown that methane can be extracted from the deposits.

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Methane clathrate - 'Fire ice'


Hydrates, or clathrates, are a frozen mixture of water and gas, primarily methane
The methane molecules reside inside a water molecule lattice
The methane will ignite in ice form - hence the "fire ice" moniker
Clathrates tend to form under frigid temperatures and high pressures
They are found in ocean sediments and under the permafrost on land
Vast deposits are thought to exist, rivalling known reserves of traditional fossil fuels
Offshore deposits present a potentially enormous source of methane but also some environmental concern, because the underwater geology containing them is unstable in many places.

"It is the world's first offshore experiment producing gas from methane hydrate," an official from the economy, trade and industry ministry told the AFP news agency.

A survey of the gas field is being run by state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC).

Engineers used a depressurisation method that turns methane hydrate into methane gas.

Production tests are expected to continue for about two weeks.

Government officials have said that they aim to establish methane hydrate production technologies for practical use within five years.

A Japanese study estimated that at least 1.1tn cubic metres of methane hydrate exist in offshore deposits.

This is the equivalent of more than a decade of Japan's gas consumption.

Japan has few natural resources and the cost of importing fuel has increased after a backlash against nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster two years ago.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Well, this is positive. Maybe we can give up our other sources of fuel and just run human civilization off of outgassing methane hydrates in the arctic, making us slightly less screwed by global warming.

[Guardsman Bass]

Too true. If they're going to outgas anyways (not confirmed, but suspected), then it's actually better to siphon the methane off and either burn it or use it for other purposes, as opposed to letting it leak into the atmosphere.

[Princess Bubblegum]

I can't see this ending well.

So instead of warming to oceans now to cause doomsday, we extract it straight up. Well... at least we get cheap energy for a few thousand years before the effects of The Great Dying 2 take into full effect. Hopefully we can do something about it at that time. :/

[madd0ct0r]

It's more nuanced then that.

Specifically, methane is a really powerful greenhouse gas, to the point it's better to burn it and keep the CO2 as it's less damaging. Assuming the hydrates were going to outgas (something people are nervous about), we're better off gradually extracting, burning and claiming some free energy then allowing the climate to absorb huge gulps of gas from the oceans bottom.
Smoother transition and maybe less traumatic too. Maybe CO2 sequestion will pay off to reduce the climate change effect further.
Plus the energy side of the equation makes it profitable to do it, something which will benefit us long term.

[Irbis]

Well, this is positive. Maybe we can give up our other sources of fuel and just run human civilization off of outgassing methane hydrates in the arctic, making us slightly less screwed by global warming.

If we were giving up coal or oil burning to mine methane, maybe, but giving up nuclear energy to mine methane makes us more, not less screwed by global warming.

[Molyneux]

It may give us some lead time to work on better alternate sources, at least.

[Irbis]

It may give us some lead time to work on better alternate sources, at least.

The only viable alternate energy program we might need time on is nuclear fusion*; nuclear fission power we have is perfectly deployable now, and all these cool new generation reactors would be already deployed, running, and tested if not for humanity's collective radiophobia. Never mind burning coal releases more radioactive particles in a week than Chernobyl ever did. Pretending bandaids like "renewable" power or clathrates change anything instead of acting like France is what got us into this mess in the first place.

*Solar energy, while cute and maybe useful in some niches, is not viable even equator-wide, much less worldwide, sadly.

[Irbis]

Also, Japan apparently regrets decision to pull out of Nuclear power; turns out that after counting all costs of LNG and renevables Japanese economy would sink if that passed and newly elected government actually wants to bring all but 2 reactors back and build new ones. Can someone pass that memo to German and Swiss national opinion? But I guess dreaded Baltic Tsunamis are more scary than ruined economy.

On one hand, maybe that example will convince all uninformed people that it might be actually way to be considered, on the other, given Japanese already stellar success with separating regulators from companies that culminated in Fukushima, we might just watch a repeat of that fiasco in making.

[Sky Captain]

If those hydrates are going to outgas anyway then mining and burnng them for power certainly would be good thing. If extracting methane from hydrates proves to be more cost effective than mining coal then even better because it could led to less use of dirty coal reducing air pollution and environmental damage from coal mining.

[Irbis]

If those hydrates are going to outgas anyway then mining and burnng them for power certainly would be good thing. If extracting methane from hydrates proves to be more cost effective than mining coal then even better because it could led to less use of dirty coal reducing air pollution and environmental damage from coal mining.

As I said, replacing coal, yes, replacing nuclear, no. Though, tampering with anything that could lead to disastrous consequences when mined (see link above) should be taken with great care unless we're sure mining method is safe.