Tapping the sea's reserves (2)

1 Name: Sling!XD/uSlingU 2005-03-19 01:46 ID:cdtPY218

http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66925,00.html
More energy is trapped under the sea as frozen natural gas than is stored in all the world's oil reserves

Vast reserves of methane hydrates -- a form of natural gas -- could power the world for decades to come.

For millions of years, microbes have munched away on organic matter in ocean sediments, releasing methane as a byproduct. In cold, high-pressure environments at depths of 1,000 feet and more, individual methane molecules get trapped in ice-like cages of frozen water -- methane hydrates.

When they are brought up from the sea floor, the ice cages fizzle and decompose, releasing the trapped methane. Put a match to the decomposing ice and voilĂ : Ice that literally burns.

2 Name: Unverified Source 2005-03-27 03:06 ID:u8UWsTI7

2get

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