Japanese ship Chikyu extracted gas from methane hydrate in the Pacific seabed on Tuesday. (Kyodo, via Landov)
Gold star for Japan. The nation says that it has extracted gas from methane hydrate, the first time that’s been done in history. What does that mean? Methane hydrate is a frozen “cage” of water and methane, and can be a possible source of energy. Offshore deposits like the one about 30 miles away from Japan’s main island can potentially be a monster reservoir of methane. There is an environmental caveat, though: they’re pretty unstable under water.
