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> March 17, 2000:
Hour One: Methane Hydrates/Fuel Cell Update
| If you drive a car, or heat your house using oil, you've probably noticed that prices for oil and gasoline are soaring. In the past few months, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline has approached--and even gone over $2.00/gallon. While economists are eager to explain that the rise is only temporary, the recent price of oil may make some people think about other fuels. |  | This week, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania report an advance that could make those other fuels more of an option--an improvement in fuel cell technology that may allow hydrocarbons like methane to be converted directly into electricity. In the past, hydrocarbons could only be used in a fuel cell by converting them into hydrogen first, a difficult and energy-intensive process. The new research may present a way around that obstacle. We'll talk to one of the researchers and find out how. 
Where are they? Lots of places... USGS image. | We'll also take a trip to the sea floor -- and below -- in search of a possible future source of hydrocarbon energy called methane hydrates. In high-pressure, low-temperature conditions, molecules of methane and water can arrange themselves into a solid lattice structure. It's a chunk of methane that you could dig into with a knife and fork, if you could figure out a way to get the solidified gas to the surface without it rapidly decomposing. That's a big problem, since most of the world's energy doesn't get used at the bottom of the ocean. | Still, many researchers are looking into methane hydrates because of the enormous amount of energy they contain. Some estimates say that these deep-sea deposits may contain twice as much carbon as all the regular gas, coal, and oil on the planet. And while some environmentalists worry that mining the hydrates would be a disaster due to their contributions to global warming, as the price of other fuels rises, many nations and companies are turning their eyes towards the sea.
| On this hour of Science Friday, we'll talk about the logistics and economics of deep-sea mining for methane, as well as some of the stranger parts of methane hydrate research -- the discovery of worms that live on the methane, and theories that say methane hydrates could be one explanation for the "Bermuda Triangle." Call in with your comments and questions - 1-800-989-8255. | 
The small pink shapes are
worms living on the methane hydrate... | 
and here's one worm close up.
(Images Charles Fisher, Penn State) |
Guests:
Raymond Gorte
Professor, Chemical Engineering
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Robert Kripowicz
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
Fossil Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, DC
Keith Kvenvolden
Organic Geochemist
Senior Scientist
United States Geological Survey
Menlo Park, California
Ian MacDonald
Associate Research Scientist
Geochemical Environmental Research Group
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
Books/Articles Discussed: Related Links:
Fuel Cells - Green Power Department of Energy: Fossil Energy - Advanced Fuel Cell Power Systems USGS Fact sheet: Gas (Methane) Hydrates -- A New Frontier Department of Energy: Fossil Energy - Methane Hydrate Program Gas Hydrate at the USGS Scientists Discover Methane Ice Worms on Gulf of Mexico Sea Floor Science News Online (11/14/98): The Ice that Burns
Methane Hydrates: Energy Prospect or Natural Hazard?
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist |