Japan is extracting natural gas from…flammable ice

On March 12, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the country has extracted natural gas from a new energy source called methane hydrate (also known as combustible ice) at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of central Japan.

This is the first case in the world of gas extraction from such an energy source.

Fire ice. (Illustration photo: AFP)

A certain amount of methane gas was produced at 9 a.m. local time, an official from the ministry said.

If the gas source is stably exploited during about two weeks of testing in waters 80km south of the Atsumi Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture, it will be "a big step" towards the commercial development of a future resource.

Preparatory work for the project was launched by a consortium led by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation in February 2012.

According to the exploitation project, this complex used a method of reducing the pressure of the seabed layers containing methane hydrate gas to remove solids and collect methane gas - the key component of natural gas.

Methane hydrate, made from methane gas compressed in ice under the seabed or permanently frozen, is seen as a promising new energy source.

This new energy source lies on a large area of ​​the seabed surrounding Japan, with estimated reserves sufficient to meet Japan's natural gas consumption needs for about 100 years.

There is hope for the development of this gas source because Japan has very few natural resources. However, reducing the cost of exploitation such as drilling wells on the seabed... is still a challenge for Japan./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT