These are excerpts from an article by Alan Boyle of MSNBC, discussing new Energy sources that may be vital to the energy future of the entire Earth. As stated it may allow for the transition from conventional fossil fuels, oil, to a cleaner and abundant source of clean energy.
Source:
Alan Boyle – MSNBC “Cosmic Log” – cosmiclog@msnbc.com
Link: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/20/2041789.aspx
“A NEW ENERGY FRONTIER?” by Alan Boyle author of “Cosmic Logic”
Excerpt begins:
“Gas hydrate deposits are a big deal because they are so widespread, and yet so mysterious: These undersea deposits form from methane and water at low temperatures and moderate pressures. The methane molecules are trapped within lattices of water molecules, but they can be released by raising the temperature or lowering the pressure.”
Note: my insert***(see estimates below)***
“Boswell cites estimates suggesting that 20 quadrillion cubic meters of methane could be trapped within global deposits. If all that methane could be extracted, it would provide enough natural gas to supply the United States at current levels for more than 30,000 years.”
“That’s an impossibly big “if,” however. First of all, the vast majority of those deposits are either widely dispersed in mud or piled up in mounds on the deep-ocean floor. Getting at those deposits would be an expensive, ugly proposition with potentially catastrophic environmental consequences (more about that in just a bit).”
“A whiff of environmental worry
One of the big questions has to do with how harvesting gas hydrates would affect climate change. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and for a long time, researchers have wondered whether the release of undersea methane could kick off a runaway global-warming effect.” (italics added)
“Here’s how the scenario is set out: Warming oceans cause a thaw in gas hydrate deposits, which liberates methane, which adds to the greenhouse effect, which warms the oceans, which adds to the gas hydrate thaw, which … well, you see where this is going.”
“The “methane apocalypse” often comes up in discussions of past extinctions or science-fiction tales (such as “The Mother of Storms,” a past pick in the Cosmic Log Used Book Club). There’s even a USGS Web page addressing concerns that gas hydrates are to blame for the Bermuda Triangle.” (italics added)
“But you don’t have to turn to science fiction or the fossil record to pick up on the concerns about gas hydrates. This month, Geophysical Research Letters published a study finding that an Arctic sea-temperature rise of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) has coincided with heightened release of methane from the sea’s depths.”
“Our survey was designed to work out how much methane might be released by future ocean warming; we did not expect to discover such strong evidence that this process has already started,” the University of Southampton’s Tim Minshull said in a news release from Britain’s National Oceanography Center.” “And the world’s oceans are continuing to warm, according to the latest statistics.” (italics added)
End of Excerpt
Comment:
The previous paragraph mentioned Methane Hydrate deposits are already becoming unstable from Ocean warming and beginning to release gas. Methods to extract this gas and stop it being released into the atmosphere may become critical at some time in the near future. (more later)
I strongly suggest reading the entire article, especially those that may be concerned about so-called “dwindling energy reserves”. The transition from “an oil based economy” to cleaner, renewable sources (i.e. wind, water and Sun) will take decades to centuries, in the interim we will be forced to use new technologies and new energy sources. It is possible, with ever more sophisticated scrubbers and clean burn technology, to eliminate the “dirty fuels” with little or no harm to our environment.
