Originally published February 3 2004
Technology advances in harvesting gas hydrates would mean massive
geopolitical power shift away from the Middle East
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Gas hydrates are frozen bundles of energy located at the bottom of the
oceans of the Northern regions of the world. This article explores the
scientific challenge of making gas hydrates a practical form of energy,
but it doesn't discuss the powerful geopolitical changes this simple
substance may bring about. Consider this: the largest gas hydrate
deposits -- which can be used for both natural gas and sources of clean
hydrogen energy -- are found deep under cold waters near the coasts of
countries like Canada and Japan. It's no surprise, then, that both
countries are heavily investing in the technology required to extract
clearn energy from gas hydrates. Japan, especially, would like to be rid
of its dependence of foreign oil imports.
But what few people
realize is that a massive global power shift is currently in the making.
If gas hydrates can be used to power automobiles, homes and industry,
then the massive supply of this substance (there's far more gas hydrate
in the world than all fossil fuels combined) means the energy production
centers of the world will no longer be the Middle East! Instead, they'll
be countries like Canada.
The geopolitical ramifications of this
shift towards a hydrogen economy can hardly be overstated. If Canada
becomes one of the world's largest producers of energy, then its own
strategic importance skyrockets. Interest in the Middle East would wane,
and countries like Japan and even the U.S. would finally be freed from
their oil addictions. Just as importantly, everyone would benefit from
the favorable environmental impact of the cleaner gas hydrate industry
(as compared to the relatively dirty oil industry).
This is why I
consider research into gas hydrates to be one of the top 10 technologies
needed for improving the quality of life on planet Earth.
Gas on Ice New hope for extracting natural gas from solid formations
adds a hopeful ingredient to the energy future.
Once dubbed an energy pipe dream, the prospect of extracting
significant quantities of natural gas from frosty hydrate deposits just
got a major boost.
As a source for natural gas, hydrate today is about where coal bed
methane was 15 years ago, says Michael Max, a hydrate expert formerly
with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "Coal bed methane
was a classic, unconventional gas play," with more than a few doubters,
Max says.
Engineers and geoscientists worked for years studying how changes in
temperature and pressure affect hydrates in deposit.
Reduce pressure or increase temperature just enough, and hydrate will
melt.
When that happens, the gas and water molecules go their separate ways
and the gas, everyone assumed, could then be captured much like gas from
conventional deposits.
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