If we heard about renewable energy, we must thinking wind, solar, biodiesel, fuel cell, hydropower, and many more. How about methane hydrate, have you ever heard about it.
methane hydrates is a crystalline form of methane gas and pure water that exists when pressures are sufficiently high, or temperatures sufficiently low. It looks like a lump of ice. Gas hydrates, also known as "clathrates," form when methane gas from the decomposition of organic material comes into contact with water at low temperatures and high pressures. Those cold, high-pressure conditions exist deep below the oceans and underground on land in certain parts of the world, including the ocean floor and permafrost areas of the Arctic.
There are mega-tons of the stuff at the bottom of the ocean all over the world and in the Arctic permafrost (about 300,000 trillion cubic feet of it) and it is the cleanest and most abundant source of energy in the world. There is at least twice as much of it around as fossil fuels (some say 10 times as much). And, when burned as a fuel, it releases less carbon dioxide pollution than anything else around.
The interesting is, when methane, which is a gas, combines with seawater to make methane hydrate, it rejects the salt in the water. Therefore, fresh water is produced when the concentrated hydrates are melted. It's a desalination process where the methane can be recycled to continue the process.
With such huge potential, we should not fear if fossil oil is run out some day. There is still many research and problem need to be tackled before it can be extracted like fossil oil. The main problem are transportation as it need to be contain in high pressure or low temperature condition and also problem when over exploit toward environment.
If in future,there manage to convert mehtane gases into methane hydrates, this will surely like a carbon sinking program where methane from dairy industries can capture and storage beside been process. Other solution also to our water shortage.
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