Combustible Ice Japan Energy New Attempt

According to the Nikkei Financial News, a pilot project funded by the Japanese government will extract natural gas from methane hydrates at the end of the fiscal year 2012. This will be the first time in the world that this type of trial will be conducted offshore.

The Nikkei Financial News said that the Japanese government will support further research and intends to begin commercial mining in the next decade.

Methane hydrates are also sometimes referred to as flammable ice, including methane and water molecules, which are formed in cold and high pressure environments. Combustible ice exists in the high-pressure and low-temperature areas of the seabed, and is often close to the continental fault line. The gas is solidified by contact with the icy seawater. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is preparing to request an increase of more than 10 billion yen in the budget for the fiscal year 2012 for the project, and the funds will be used to support Japan's oil and gas and metal companies.

In the investigation from fiscal year 2003 to fiscal year 2006, METI confirmed that the natural gas contained in the combustible ice in the sea of ​​Shizuoka Prefecture and Gozan Prefecture could meet Japan's 13-year demand. It is estimated that the combustible ice in Japanese waters can meet Japan's demand for 100 years, but METI said that only 20% to 30% of reserves can be mined.

The earthquake and tsunami on March 11 triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years. Since then, Japan has been exploring ways to diversify its energy structure.

Relevant statistics show that Japan is currently one of the countries in the world with more proven reserves of flammable ice, which is approximately 7.4 trillion cubic meters. It is estimated that it can be maintained for 100 years in 1999 when Japan's domestic natural gas consumption is calculated. Japan has a wide range of flammable ice that covers almost every area from Hokkaido to Okinawa. If flammable ice is widely used, Japan will also greatly reduce its dependence on energy sources such as the Middle East and Indonesia. Now that the world’s oil reserves are continuously declining and international oil prices are rising, if flammable ice becomes the main energy, Japan will leap from the “small country of resources” to the world’s “resource great country”.

According to the Nikkei Financial News, if this offshore trial is successful, it will be the first time in the world that natural gas has been extracted from methane hydrates on the seabed. In the past, people used Japanese research techniques to extract methane from land methane hydrates in Canada.