Methane gas hydrates..source of fuel from the artic ? Unsafe or way out ?

[EVDebs]

"The worldwide amounts of carbon bound in gas hydrates is conservatively estimated to total twice the amount of carbon to be found in all known fossil fuels on Earth.

This estimate is made with minimal information from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other studies. Extraction of methane from hydrates could provide an enormous energy and petroleum feedstock resource. Additionally, conventional gas resources appear to be trapped beneath methane hydrate layers in ocean sediments." from

http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/gas-hydrates/title.html

Is this viable ?

[DrWeird]

1. viable? probably not.

nt

[one_true_leroy]

2. i've read a bit about this...

the danger is harvesting. the crystals are formed at low temps and high pressures (they occur in many areas, notably off the Gulf Coast), and easily destabilized (read: explosive danger). IF harveted, they would represent a significant fuel source, and a renewable one, to boot.

[FogerRox]

4. C H4 IIRC -you can get it from composting poop from factory style pig

farms. Methane storage may---be a tad less problematic than just H2.

Or you could just fuck the Hydrocarbon tech and go elsewhere.

If we go back into space to get resources-- this idea of Hyrdocarbon tech HAS to go by the wayside.
Fusion-solar-geothermal---all would work off earth.

[htuttle]

3. Ultimately, we have to stop mining our fuel

The only way we are going to last another few thousand years on this planet is if we start thinking in terms of 'net affect on the biosphere' when we decide to use a fuel (or anything else, for that matter).

Ethanol, for example, is not as efficient as gasoline. However, any CO2 released when ethanol burns can only be equal to what the plants the fuel was made of drew out of the atmosphere when they grew. Net zero increase in CO2 over the fuel's lifecycle is more than a good thing -- it is going to have to be a requirement.

Biomass, wind, solar, geo, hydro, whatever. Just as long as everything put into the atmosphere equals what is taken out by the next 'crop' (if applicable).

I don't know if oceanic methane is viable to use for, say, 30 years, but I know it won't be viable to use over hundreds of years. All that stuff was pulled out of the atmosphere long ago to create the composition of the air we breath today.

[maxsolomon]

5. who cares? lets get busy releasing that carbon!

how long until i can run my combo leaf blower/jet ski off gas hydrates? zoom zoom!