Gas Methane Hydrates-Research Status, Annotated Bibliography, and Energy Implications

• Main Authors: Sorensen, James, Solc, Jaroslav, Bolles, Bethany
• Other Authors: United States
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Dakota 2000
• Subjects: Natural Gas; Power Generation; Economics; Alaska; Targets; Natural Gas Hydrate Deposits; Methane; Production; Gas Hydrates; Resource Potential; 03 Natural Gas; Geologic Surveys; Evaluation; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2172/824982; https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc786304/

The objective of this task as originally conceived was to compile an assessment of methane hydrate deposits in Alaska from available sources and to make a very preliminary evaluation of the technical and economic feasibility of producing methane from these deposits for remote power generation. Gas hydrates have recently become a target of increased scientific investigation both from the standpoint of their resource potential to the natural gas and oil industries and of their positive and negative implications for the global environment After we performed an extensive literature review and consulted with representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Canadian Geological Survey, and several oil companies, it became evident that, at the current stage of gas hydrate research, the available information on methane hydrates in Alaska does not provide sufficient grounds for reaching conclusions concerning their use for energy production. Hence, the original goals of this task could not be met, and the focus was changed to the compilation and review of published documents to serve as a baseline for possible future research at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). An extensive annotated bibliography of gas hydrate publications has been completed. The EERC will reassess its future research opportunities on methane hydrates to determine where significant initial contributions could be made within the scope of limited available resources.