China to develop new energy source - combustible ice
China's western Qinghai Province, containing major deposits of the
country's "combustible ice," will see increased explorations for this
emerging clean energy, Provincial Governor Luo Huining said on Saturday.
The plateau province plans to allow large energy companies along with
researchers to tap this new source of energy while minimizing
environmental threats, Luo said on the sidelines of the annual session
of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.
"Combustible ice," or natural gas hydrate, is mainly found in deep
seas and atop plateaus. Approximately one cubic meter of "combustible
ice" equals 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas.
At a time of energy bottlenecks, the new energy resource has drawn
interest from many countries. Additional attention has focused on the
"ice" having a low proportion of impurities, resulting in it generating
almost no pollutants when burned.
More than 100 countries around the world have found deposits of
"combustible ice." The deposits in Qinghai Province, home to one-quarter
of China's total reserve on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, were discovered
in September 2009.
"Combustible ice" reserves on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are estimated to
equal at least 35 billion tonnes of oil, which could supply energy to
China for 90 years.
Luo said tapping this new energy resource should be given high priority
in China's energy strategy.
Premier Wen Jiabao said, in his government work report on Friday,
that China would work hard to develop low-carbon technologies, as well
as new and renewable energy resources to actively respond to concerns
about climate change.
"Qinghai has just started the exploration," Luo said. "The key problem
is that we still do not have the correct technologies."
Luo expressed his hope that researchers could find excavation techniques
to avoid damaging the ecological system while extracting the
"combustible ice."
Scientists noted that mining of the "ice" could cause geological
disasters, such as slumping. Also, the release of large amounts of
methane gas could further aggravate global warming.
Zhang Hongtao, chief engineer at the Ministry of Land and Resources,
said China could begin using its "combustible ice" within 10 to 15
years.
"The biggest challenge is to protect the ecological system and
bio-diversity," Zhang said.
Qiao Zhengxiao, also an NPC deputy, said China still lags behind some
countries in terms of technology and equipment for exploring
"combustible ice."
Countries including the United States and Japan have major plans to tap
"ice" discovered within their own territories. Also, the Republic of
Korea recently announced a program to invest 37 million U.S. dollars to
drill for "ice" discovered along its eastern coast beginning in April.
Editor: yan
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