Thursday, April 8, 2010

Energy Production from Methane: A Greenhouse Gas


Methane is a greenhouse gas that heats the atmosphere, aiding in the environmental crisis of global warming. Methane comes from a variety of natural and manmade procedures. In nature it comes from gas hydrates located in permafrost and under continental shelves. Massive amounts of methane gas hydrates are located in these areas. The enormous amounts of methane hydrates are located below the sea floor, in arctic permafrost, and continental shelves threaten global warming; as sea levels fluctuate, permafrost melts, and off shore drilling occurs methane gas is released into the atmosphere. This is extremely dangerous to the environment, however, methane gas hydrates are potentially being considered to be used as an energy resource, and could become the most important energy resource for the future.

References:

Demirbas, A. (2010). Methane hydrates as potential energy resource: Part 1 – Importance, resource and recovery facilities. Energy Conversion & Management, 51(7), 1547-1561. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2010.02.013.

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