Vast deposits of 'flammable ice' found
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E-mail China Daily, December 18, 2013
A research team has found China's most promising natural gas hydrate deposits under the Pearl River, improving chances the icelike formations will ease the country's energy shortages, scientists said on Tuesday.
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A research team has found China's most promising natural gas hydrate deposits under the Pearl River, improving chances the icelike formations will ease the country's energy shortages. |
The discovery showed about 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas hydrates, also called "flammable ice", exist in an area of 55 square kilometers under the eastern Pearl River.
"It is very encouraging to have such a huge source of untapped energy discovered," said Zhang Xueguang, chief scientist of the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, which is hosting the research, at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
Statistics released by the Beijing Gas Group Co Ltd show the capital used 8.4 billion cu m of natural gas in 2012, meaning the new discovery could supply the capital's natural gas for nearly 18 years at that same rate.
Flammable ice is almost pure methane mixed with water and frozen under high pressure in permafrost or under the sea.
One cu m of natural gas hydrate can release at least 164 cu m of methane, and is considered a potential green energy resource.
Despite such energy potential, no country has yet been able to utilize the resource commercially due to the challenging conditions of the flammable ice and unpredictable effect on the environment.
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