Methane hydrate research center starts up

A new center for research into Arctic methane hydrate deposits has opened in the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso. Called the Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, or CAGE, the center will bring together a variety of geologists, geophysicists, oceanographers and other scientists to carry out research into the properties of the hydrates and the ways in which hydrate deposits interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and climate system, according to a report by science news service phys.org.

Methane hydrate is an ice-like material consisting of molecules of methane, the main component of natural gas, trapped in a lattice of water molecules. The material, only stable within a certain range of relatively high pressures and relatively low temperatures, occurs commonly below the seafloor in coastal shelf areas and, onshore, under Arctic permafrost.

Although some of the hydrates are viewed as a potential future source of natural gas as a fuel, there are also major concerns about the potential disassociation of the material as a consequence of global warming. Such disassociation could release huge quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, thus accelerating the warming of the climate and ultimately generating carbon dioxide that will add to ocean acidification.

CAGE will carry out basic research into both the energy resource and environmental aspects of methane hydrate, phys.org says.

—Alan Bailey