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[ponpo]

https://apnews.com/9e45285b36f9481ea686b5fe683cc0f1

BEIJING (AP) — Commercial development of the globe's huge reserves of a frozen fossil fuel known as ”combustible ice" has moved closer to reality after Japan and China successfully extracted the material from the seafloor off their coastlines.

But experts said Friday that large-scale production remains many years away — and if not done properly could flood the atmosphere with climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Combustible ice is a frozen mixture of water and concentrated natural gas. Technically known as methane hydrate, it can be lit on fire in its frozen state and is believed to comprise one of the world's most abundant fossil fuels.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the fuel was successfully mined by a drilling rig operating in the South China Sea on Thursday. Chinese Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming declared the event a breakthrough moment heralding a potential ”global energy revolution."

A drilling crew in Japan reported a similar successful operation two weeks earlier, on May 4 offshore the Shima Peninsula.

For Japan, methane hydrate offers the chance to reduce its heavy reliance of imported fuels if it can tap into reserves off its coastline. In China, it could serve as a cleaner substitute for coal-burning power plants and steel factories that have polluted much of the country with lung-damaging smog.

Estimates of worldwide reserves range from 280 trillion cubic meters (10,000 trillion cubic feet) up to 2,800 trillion cubic meters (100,000 trillion cubic feet), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By comparison, total worldwide production of natural gas was 3.5 billion cubic meters (124 billion cubic feet) in 2015, the most recent year available.

That means methane hydrate reserves could meet global gas demands for 80 to 800 years at current consumption rates.

Yet efforts to successfully extract the fuel at a profit have eluded private and state-owned energy companies for decades. That's in part because of the high cost of extraction techniques, which can use large amounts of water or carbon dioxide to flood methane hydrate reserves so the fuel can be released and brought to the surface.

There are also environmental concerns.

If methane hydrate leaks during the extraction process, it can increase greenhouse gas emissions. The fuel also could displace renewables such as solar and wind power, said David Sandalow, a former senior official with the U.S. State Department now at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.

However, if it can be used without leaking, it has the potential to replace dirtier coal in the power sector.

”The climate implications of producing natural gas hydrates are complicated. There are potential benefits, but substantial risks," Sandalow said.

 

[Slayven]

See that is how Zero Day starts. Hopefully folks get superpowers and not unleash an unspeakable evil

 

[BocoDragon]

Let's keep this fossil fuel party going baby!! Woo!!

*rides the Earth like it is the nuclear missile from Dr. Strangelove*

 

[the_batman]

why aren't they investing more in cleaner and renewable energies, you just know they're going to fuck this up somehow.

 

[Lord Frieza]

why aren't they investing more in cleaner and renewable energies, you just know they're going to fuck this up somehow.

Both countries are, this isn't related to that, obviously

 

[donkey show]

 

[kittoo]

I don't like the sound of this.
Though I do need to do more research in this.

 

[Khoryos]

This does not seem like a good idea.

 

[Dehnus]

WTF!? With the seas heating up, that stuff releasing would already mark global disaster. But NOOOOOPPPEEE! Leave it to the top 1% to feel "Hmmm destroying humanity isn't going fast enough for profit, we need to speed things up! WOOHOOO NOW WE CAN BURN IT OURSELVES! HAIL CHTULU!".

Seriously, why even do this, are people that fond of destruction for profit?

 

[Amalthea]

If there's a gif that represents humanity in a nutshell it's the one where a kid hits a mine with a sledgehammer.

 

[Bishop89]

Japan up-to something today and i feel these are all related!

Japan, China, and Poland combine powers for Saint Seiya live action Hollywood film
Nikkei: Japan bolsters defense-technology cooperation with Italy, Germany and Sweden
China, Japan extract combustible ice from seafloor