Latest Methane clathrate Stories

NASA TV's broadcast on Thursday confirmed that Mars is, indeed, an active planet in our solar system, as the first definitive detection of methane gas has been released into the red planet's atmosphere.Michael Meyer, the lead scientists of the Mars program at NASA, headed a broadcast panel of NASA and University scientists who stated that it is not yet known whether the methane sources were produced geologically or biologically"”suggesting microbial activity of an alien nature.Michael...

Chemists at the University of Liverpool have developed a way of converting methane gas into a powder form in order to make it more transportable.Scientists have developed a material made out of a mixture of silica and water which can soak up large quantities of methane molecules. The material looks and acts like a fine white powder which, if developed for industrial use, might be easily transported or used as a vehicle fuel.Methane is the principal component of natural gas and can be burnt...

Text of report in English by South Korean newspaper Choson Ilbo website on 25 July [Original headline: "Korea To Develop Gas Hydrate Near Dokdo"] The government wants to develop gas hydrate near Dokdo [Liancourt Rocks] as a means to strengthen its dominion over the islets in the face of renewed Japanese territorial ambitions. Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Yoon-ho on Thursday told the National Assembly that development of gas hydrate near Dokdo [Liancourt Rocks] would help Korea protect its...

OTTAWA, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- As the search for new global energy sources, continues and conventional natural gas supplies decline in North America, a 13-member panel of experts appointed by the Council of Canadian Academies has concluded that Canada is well positioned to be a global leader in exploration, research and development, and eventual production of natural gas from gas hydrate. However, given the need for further research to better quantify the large Canadian gas hydrate resource...

Parallel to catastrophic event of 635 million years agoAn abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from ice sheets that extended to Earth's low latitudes some 635 million years ago caused a dramatic shift in climate, scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report in this week's issue of the journal Nature.The shift triggered events that resulted in global warming and an ending of the last "snowball" ice age.The researchers believe that the methane was...

Emissions from wetlands around the Arctic may be responsible for higher atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas methane that were noted last year.Extra amounts of the gas in the Arctic region are of biological origin, according to scientists. For nearly a decade global levels of methane had remained mostly stable.Rising levels in the arctic indicate that some of the methane stored away in permafrost is being released, which would result in major climatic implications.Methane is about 25...

As the Chinese economy grows at double-digit rates, satisfying the country's energy appetite is a top priority for President Hu Jintao and his government. While China's oil companies and their search for partners in places like Sudan commands most of the attention in the West, coal is of much greater importance to China than oil. The country relies on coal to generate roughly three-quarters of its electricity. Imports only account for 1.8% of China's coal consumption, with the rest coming...

The question of whether Titan can retain its thick, organic atmosphere for the rest of its lifetime could hinge on how efficiently methane molecules were packed inside water "crates" during a period of the moon's formation. Dr Vasili Dimitrov, whose work will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, said, "If Titan runs out of methane and loses its 'veil', it will become a completely different type of astrophysical body. Methane drives the chemical...

BP Exploration (Alaska) has successfully drilled a research well on the Alaska North Slope in partnership with the US Department of Energy and the US Geological Survey to collect samples and gather knowledge about gas hydrate, a potential long-term unconventional gas energy resource. The stratigraphic test well enabled BP and the Department of Energy (DOE) to gather core, log, reservoir performance and fluid data from an ice pad location at Milne Point. The drilling began on February 3, 2007...

By Moshfeghian, Mahmood; Bourdon, John C; Maddox, R N Because inhibitors are important in reducing formation of hydrates in gas streams, we performed a study to investigate and evaluate the accuracy of available tools that predict hydrate formation conditions in the presence of inhibitors. Gas Processing We evaluated two commercial processsimulation programs and three shortcut methods. The study covered wide ranges of pressures and inhibitor concentrations. Fig. 1 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM...