Sermitsiaq - Methane gas: Abundant alternative energy can be harnassed from the frozen tundra

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Methane gas: Abundant alternative energy can be harnassed from the frozen tundra

New research shows that greenhouse gases are see out from the frozen tundra of the Arctic every winter at an unprecedented rate. The release may help to explain the greenhouse effect, according to new studies from the Zackenberg research station in north-eastern Greenland Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, which may have an even greater effect on the climate than carbon dioxide. The results may provide another clue to the greenhouse effect and global warming.The study concludes that eight to ten million tons of methane gas is discharged from the high Arctic regions (Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Siberia) annually, more than double previous estimates.

Note EU-Digest: A consortium of government and oil industry scientists are preparing to drill and tap one of the largest potential energy sources ever discovered at the edge of the Alaskan permafrost area, and one that few people have ever heard of: flammable ice crystals packed with hydrocarbons, called methane gas hydrates. The project, a joint effort between BP, the United States Geo­logi­cal Survey (USGS), and the Department of Energy is set to begin in late 2009 or 2010 and marks the first large-scale production test of this unconventional substance.The vast field could hold as much as 85 trillion cubic feet of gas – an amount far less than the dream scenarios put forward in the past, but still massive. Even more important, such movement makes the possibility of getting at the mother lode of hydrate resources – those located offshore – increasingly realistic.

International and industry researchers will watch the progress of the BP/USGS test. It may, if things go well, turn gas hydrates from curiosity to solid energy policy.