Start of the world’s first offshore production test of natural gas from decomposition of methane hydrate was confirmed by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) this week, with the commencement of under seafloor harvesting. Production is taking place off the coast of Shima Peninsula in Japan’s main island of Honshu. Read more »
US Methane Hydrate Test Technology may be a “Game Changer”
North Slope of Alaska
Methane hydrate was discovered only a few decades ago. Various estimates suggest the energy locked up in methane hydrate deposits is more than twice the global reserves of all conventional gas, oil, and coal deposits combined, but the technical challenges of extracting that energy source have been slow to resolve. Now, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has reported the successful completion of a test of technology in the North Slope of Alaska that was able to safely extract a steady flow of natural gas. Read more »
Innovative Hydrate Production Technologies to be Tested in Alaska
The methane hydrate fields of Alaska's North Slope
Methane hydrates … a potentially vast source of global energy
A fully instrumented well that will test innovative technologies for producing methane gas from hydrate deposits has been safely installed on the North Slope of Alaska. As a result, the “Iġnik Sikumi” (Iñupiaq for “fire in the ice”) gas hydrate field trial well will be available for field experiments as early as winter 2011–12. Successful trials will add strong argument for the US government to push the development of natural gas fuelled transportation. Read more »
US NETL Breakthrough for Methane Hydrate
NETL Process, Nozzle Technology May Help Reduce Production, Transportation, and Storage Costs
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have developed a process and related technology that could enhance the nation’s ability to use natural gas and vast methane hydrate energy resources. Read more »
US Methane Hydrate Report Issued
Methane hydrate vein in sediment (NETL image)
“Naturally occurring methane hydrate may represent an enormous source of methane, the main component of natural gas, and could ultimately augment conventional natural gas supplies,” says a new congressionally mandated report from the US National Research Council. Although a number of challenges require attention before commercial production can be realized, no technical challenges have been identified as insurmountable, the report says. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program has made considerable progress in the past five years toward understanding and developing methane hydrate as a possible energy resource. Read more »
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