Methane hydrates

More than 100 countries around the world have found deposits of "combustible ice." "Combustible ice" reserves on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are estimated to equal at least 35 billion tonnes of oil, which could supply energy to China for 90 years. [Provincial Governor] Luo Huining said tapping this new energy resource should be given high priority in China's energy strategy.

Fuel cell company Bloom Energy made quite a stir over the weekend, with a spot on the CBS "Sixty Minutes" TV program in the United States (The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? - see the link for the video and transcript).

I recently received an e-mail from the normally level-headed National Academy of Sciences alerting me to the great potential of methane hydrates in fixing the climate and meeting our future energy needs.

"as mankind proceeded to get bigger and bigger we silently crossed a threshold"

Evolution demands short-term thinking focused on individual survival. Most attempts to overcome our evolutionarily hardwired absorption with self are selected against. The Overman is dead, killed by a high-fat diet and unwillingness to exercise. Reflexively, we follow him into the grave.

-As Arctic Ocean warms, megatonnes of methane bubble up
-Ocean Temperature Record and Other Clues: What Is Your Response?
-A ‘Dow Jones’ For Climate: The Case for a Warming Index
-Africa seeks climate change cash
-Top U.N. climate scientist backs big CO2 cuts, 350-ppm goal
-Think health costs are hot now? Factor in global warming
-The fallacy of climate activism

Everyone agrees: our economy is sick. The inescapable symptoms include declines in consumer spending and consumer confidence, together with a contraction of international trade and available credit. Add a collapse in real estate values and carnage in the automotive and airline industries and the picture looks grim indeed.

Book Review: Green Algae Strategy
Mining "Ice That Burns"
Human sewage to power thousands of homes

A coming world that's 'a whole lot smaller' (Jeff Rubin's new book)
Raymond James: Don’t ‘underestimate’ oil’s coming 1980s-style down cycle
Why oil shortages may cause price decreases, rather than increases
The race to harness hydrates

Report: Climate change will bring big problems for small number of countries
Moscow warns of future energy wars
King Abdullah of Jordan's ultimatum: peace now or it’s war next year
Pipelineistan goes Af-Pak

What is the next energy source that will give us what oil, coal and natural gas give us today? A Great many scientists, industry leaders and governments throughout the developed world believe that will be methane. More specifically they believe it will be methane hydrates.

Weaving the magic number, 350, into Transition
US climate change activists go on trial
Methane hydrates: Energy's most dangerous game
Climate change and wildfires

The methane time bomb
Permafrost may survive global climate change, new evidence suggests
Catastrophic fall in numbers reveals bird populations in crisis throughout the world

UK report: Energy security 'more important than climate change'
EU could halt energy demand growth, says study
Cheap thrills: Can you live on a pound a day?

Brown vows freedom from oil dictatorship
How food waste can power your home
When the wind doesn't blow
Environment Minister Sammy Wilson: climate change views are "hysterical psuedo-religion"