FROZEN HEAT: GLOBAL OUTLOOK ON METHANE GAS HYDRATES

摘要

As part of its 2010-2011 Programme of Work, the United Nations Environment Programme via its collaborating center in Norway, UNEP/GRID-Arendal, is undertaking an assessment of the state of the knowledge of methane gas hydrates. Global reservoirs of methane gas have long been the topic of scientific discussion both in the realm of environmental issues such as natural forces of climate change and as a potential energy resource for development. Of particular interest are the volumes of methane locked away in frozen molecules known as clathrates or hydrates. Our rapidly evolving scientific knowledge and technological development related to methane gas hydrates makes these formations increasingly prospective to economic development.