HR: 16:20h
AN: NS54A-01    [Abstracts]
TI: Natural Gas Hydrates: Recent Developments on this Potential Future Energy Resource
AU: * Pierce, B
EM: bpierce@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 915-A, Reston, VA 20192, United States
AU: Collett, T
EM: tcollett@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, MS 939, P.O. Box 25046, Denver, CO 80225, United States
AB: Gas hydrates, potentially one of the most important energy resources for the future, are naturally occurring ice-like solids in which water molecules trap gas molecules in a cagelike structure known as a clathrate. Although many gases form hydrates, methane hydrate is by far the most common. Gas hydrates exist in huge quantities in marine sediments below the sea floor and are found in association with permafrost in the Arctic. The volume of carbon contained in methane hydrates worldwide is estimated to be twice the amount contained in all other fossil fuels on Earth. The demand for natural gas throughout the world makes the immense volumes of methane hydrates worldwide an extremely attractive research target. However, the contribution of gas hydrate's role in meeting world energy needs will depend on the availability, producibility, and cost of extracting methane from the hydrate phase. The overall resource base and producibility of gas hydrates is still very much in question, in part because gas hydrates are not stable at normal sea-level pressures and temperatures. Despite the obstacles to the study and development of gas hydrate resources, it is important to remember that research break-throughs and technological developments have led to the utilization of resources once thought to be unavailable, such as coalbed gas. This presentation will hiqhlight some of the recent research, production tests, assessments, and critical studies, including work on the Alaska North Slope and the offshore of India, that may ultimately lead to facilitating gas hydrate's contribution to the world's energy mix.
UR: http:energy.usgs.gov/other/gashydrates/
DE: 3004 Gas and hydrate systems
SC: Near-Surface Geophysics [NS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly