New Source of Energy: Burning Ice
Yeah, not kidding. Burning Ice.
Basically if you get methane and water really really cold and then put it under a ton of pressure, you can get methane-ice, or methane hydrate. This source of natural gas could be a significant resource for the US and China (though it does not really compare to things like US coal reserves).
Of course, it also does not compare to the newly useable shale deposits which have roughly doubled american natural gas reserves. The bigger news is that China has roughly 15x as much of it as we do, and given how energy-poor they are (especially for their size), they are really interested in trying to burn them some ice.
Basically if you get methane and water really really cold and then put it under a ton of pressure, you can get methane-ice, or methane hydrate. This source of natural gas could be a significant resource for the US and China (though it does not really compare to things like US coal reserves).
Of course, it also does not compare to the newly useable shale deposits which have roughly doubled american natural gas reserves. The bigger news is that China has roughly 15x as much of it as we do, and given how energy-poor they are (especially for their size), they are really interested in trying to burn them some ice.
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