The National Methane Hydrates R&D Program
Welcome to the information portal for the National Methane Hydrate R&D Program. Over the past eight years, research carried out under this program has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of methane hydrates, their role in nature, and their potential as a future energy resource. This success is largely due to an unprecedented level of cooperation between federal agencies, industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions.
For a quick introduction to methane hydrate and its potential as a fuel source, please read the 2011 Methane Hydrates Primer. Information on other elements of the program can be found under the remaining Key Links. Read More.
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Announcements
Methane Hydrates Climate Change Research Overview
A desire to fully understand all the implications of natural gas hydrates has driven the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory to work with other federal agencies and academia to investigate gas hydrate’s role in the global carbon cycle, how Earth’s vast stores of gas hydrate might respond to a warming climate, and what impacts large-scale gas hydrate dissociation could have on the world’s environment. An overview of this research was recently published in ECO (Environment Coastal & Offshore) Magazine. Subscribe to ECO Magazine.
The Energy Department Announces the Selection of 14 New Methane Hydrate Research Projects The projects will research the nature and occurrence of deepwater and Arctic gas hydrates and its potential for dramatically expanding U.S. energy supplies. The projects build on the completion of a successful, unprecedented test earlier this year that was able to safely extract a steady flow of natural gas from methane hydrates on the North Slope of Alaska.
U.S. and Japan Complete Successful Field Trial of Methane Hydrate Production Technologies U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the completion of a successful, unprecedented test of technology in the North Slope of Alaska that was able to safely extract a steady flow of natural gas from methane hydrates – a vast, entirely untapped resource that holds enormous potential for U.S. economic and energy security.
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October 2012 Issue of Fire in the Ice |
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In this issue...
- Pressure Core Sampling in the Eastern Nankai Trough
- Pressure Core Characterization Tools to Enhance Gas Hydrate Field Programs
- 3D Seismic Imaging of Hydrate Occurrences over Large Gas Chimneys in the SW Barents Sea
- Beaufort Sea Cruise Examines Geohazards and Geologic Processes Near the Continental Shelf Edge
- DOE's FY2012 Gas Hydrate Program Continues Focus on Resource and Environmental Issues
- Spotlight on Research: Yoshihiro Konno, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
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Methane Hydrate Primer Now Available
This document provides a simple, but comprehensive, explanation of what methane hydrate is, where it is found, its potential as a fuel source, and the current state of methane hydrate research activities.
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Continued from top of page
The National Methane Hydrate R&D Program, enabled by the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 and the subsequent 2005 amendment to this Act [PDF], is managed by DOE through the Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and the program’s design is formulated through discussions among the six participating federal agencies and in consultation with advisory panels from industry and academia. The brochure, “Interagency Coordination on Methane Hydrates R&D” [PDF] , describes this unique federally funded, collaborative program that is designed to optimize hydrates research, avoid duplication and ensure that no important questions are left unanswered. A second document, an “Interagency Roadmap for Methane Hydrate R&D” [PDF] outlines the goals and objectives of the Program.
In addition to the work being carried out by individual researchers, the Program supports this website, the quarterly Fire in the Ice (FITI) newsletter (which highlights ongoing activities for more than 1000 readers worldwide), and a wide array of meetings and workshops that facilitate the broad and timely dissemination of hydrate research progress to the larger research community and the Nation.
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