Deep in the ocean floor and under the permafrost lie abundant deposits of high-energy fossils that no one has gotten around to extracting and using. It is a methane hydrate that looks like compressed snow. One cubic meter of this substance can, when heated, turn into 160 m³ methane and become a source of hydrogen. Japan may become the first country to begin commercial production of methane hydrate from the ocean floor.

An example of the combustion of methane hydrate

Japanese oil platform manufacturer Modec has announced its intention to begin a pilot project for deep-water methane hydrate production in April next year. The company specializes in offshore oil and natural gas platforms and believes it can create commercial equipment to extract a new type of fossil fuel from the bottom.

Methane hydrate retains its solid form at a combination of low temperatures and high pressures. Its deposits in the ocean are located at depths of 1000 meters and hundreds of meters in the bottom. It will not be easy to get such a substance, because it will be in a solid state. But as it rises to the surface, the methane hydrate will turn into a gaseous state and it will be possible to distill it through a pipeline to land or to storage facilities.

According to the developer, the cost of one floating unit for subsea methane hydrate production will amount to several hundred million US dollars. But it will pay off quickly and will be an important step in Japan’s path towards full decarbonization by 2050, as planned by the country’s authorities. Japan will be able to refuse imports of natural gas and hydrogen, and the cost of hydrogen will drop five times compared to the current price per cubic meter in the region of $ 1.

Modec Floating Platform for Deep Sea Oil Production

Moreover, according to experts, the reserves of methane hydrate on Earth are two orders of magnitude greater than that of oil. Even direct combustion of methane produces noticeably less carbon emissions than combustion of coal or natural gas. Also, methane hydrate is considered one of the factors of accelerated warming on Earth, since its natural release enhances the greenhouse effect. It is better to use this substance under control, killing several birds with one stone. And in Russia there is more of it than there is snow in winter. But that’s another story.