U.S. eyes massive frozen methane deposits as future energy source
mongabay.comSeptember 04, 2012
Gas hydrates are solid methane ice deposits typically found at the bottom of the ocean and in terrestrial permafrost. They are stable only under low temperature and relatively high pressure. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that some 200,000 trillion cubic feet methane hydrates lie within U.S. coastal waters -- enough potential energy to fuel the country for centuries.
|
The rapid decomposition of frozen methane hydrate deposits may have been responsible for the sharp spike in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) -- a period of rapid, extreme global warming about 55 million years ago. The methane released during melting would have reacted with oxygen to produce huge amounts of carbon dioxide, also a potent greenhouse gas. The warming caused a mass extinction among marine animals and helped usher in the "Age of Mammals."
The new Department of Energy grants are geared toward evaluating methane hydrates’ potential as a future energy supply as well as their environmental performance, according to the agency.
Related articles
