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China Successfully Mines Gas From Methane Hydrate In Production Run (oilprice.com)

hackingbear writes from a report via OilPrice.com: In a world's first, China has successfully extracted gas from gas hydrates in production run in the northern part of the South China Sea. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), global estimates vary, but the energy content of methane in hydrates, also known as "fire ice" or "flammable ice," is "immense, possibly exceeding the combined energy content of all other known fossil fuels." But no methane production other than small-scale field experiments has been documented so far. The China Geographical Survey said that it managed to collect samples from the Shenhu area in the South China Sea in a test that started last Wednesday. Every day some 16,000 cubic meters (565,000 cubic feet) of gas, almost all of which was methane, were extracted from the test field, exceeding goals for production mining. This is expected to help cut down China's coal-induced pollution greatly and reduce reliance on politically sensitive petroleum imports controlled by the US. "The production of gas hydrate will play a significant role in upgrading China's energy mixture and securing its energy security," Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming said on Thursday.

4 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great.. Methane.. by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IIRC methane is a seriously nasty greenhouse gas. What are the effects of mining, treating and burning this gas? Negative because of extra nasty emissions, or positive because harvesting it this way means the methane as such never makes it into the atmosphere (which was / is a big worry for instance when this ice melts and the methane is released)

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  2. Right. Next you'll be telling me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    they're mining Manganese Nodules from the sea floor like we did (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSF_Explorer). There's more going on here folks.

  3. Re:Great.. Methane.. by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's such an enormous amount of methane that this won't allay those concerns. If it's going to happen it will still happen even if we're burning it 100% in place of coal.

    There is such an enormous amount of methane (natural gas) being mined already, so much so that the price of natural gas makes flaring it off cheaper than piping it to market in many locations.

    This will help nations like China and Japan who are without ample petroleum natural resources, but the value of liquid crude and condensates will be largely unaffected unless global population trends tail off.

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  4. The ice age had 12 times more CO2, fucking idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    For the longest time earth was flooded with CO2 18 times higher than we have today, and it was colder.

    We had more CO2 in the fucking ice age.

    Stop spreading the CO2 global warming nonsense already.

    I don't know why you idiots just don't do your own research but keep repeating nonsense just because someone else said so.

    CO2/Temp Graph

    There has historically been much more CO2 in our atmosphere than exists today.

    There has historically been much more CO2 in our atmosphere than exists today. For example, during the Jurassic Period (200 mya), average CO2 concentrations were about 1800 ppm or about 4.7 times higher than today. The highest concentrations of CO2 during all of the Paleozoic Era occurred during the Cambrian Period, nearly 7000 ppm -- about 18 times higher than today.

    The Carboniferous Period and the Ordovician Period were the only geological periods during the Paleozoic Era when global temperatures were as low as they are today. To the consternation of global warming proponents, the Late Ordovician Period was also an Ice Age while at the same time CO2 concentrations then were nearly 12 times higher than today-- 4400 ppm. According to greenhouse theory, Earth should have been exceedingly hot. Instead, global temperatures were no warmer than today. Clearly, other factors besides atmospheric carbon influence earth temperatures and global warming.

    Global Temperature and Atmospheric CO2 over Geologic Time

    Late Carboniferous to Early Permian time (315 mya -- 270 mya) is the only time period in the last 600 million years when both atmospheric CO2 and temperatures were as low as they are today (Quaternary Period ).

    The Global Warming Scam

    Now then, looking at Carbon Dioxide, we find that only .117% of atmospheric carbon dioxide is directly attributable to human technology such as automobiles. .117% is a rather small amount. If we were to measure out .117% of a football field, it comes out to 4.212 inches, barely long enough to get off the touchdown line.

    CO2 Is Not Causing Global Warming

    The Possessive Belief

    CO2 (carbon dioxide) is not causing global warming or climate change. I canâ(TM)t say it more boldly, but it doesnâ(TM)t seem to matter; the belief persists that CO2 is the cause and therefore a problem. The belief is enhanced by government policies and plans, which spawn businesses to exploit the opportunities they create. A majority of the mainstream media pushes the belief because of political bias rather than understanding of the science. Evidence continues to show what is wrong with the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but it is complex and so most donâ(TM)t understand. The fact they hold definitive positions without understanding is disturbing. However, ignoring the fact that IPCC predictions are always wrong doesnâ(TM)t require the understanding that the science is completely unacceptable and proof of the political bias.
    Contradictory Evidence