Scientists Gather for Gas Hydrate Conference

Scientists Gather for Gas Hydrate Conference

This week scientists from around the world are in Wellington for a three-day conference on a little-known potential form of energy that occurs naturally under the seabed.

Gas hydrates, ice-like lumps comprising water and methane gas, have excited the scientific community because they represent a possible future source of energy and they may play a role in climate change.

The 7th International Workshop on Methane Hydrate Research and Development at Te Papa will bring leading experts together to discuss the latest developments in researching and harvesting gas hydrates.

Scientists believe that total worldwide gas hydrate accumulations may exceed known petroleum reserves. However, more work is needed to determine how much of this resource can be extracted.

New Zealand has what scientists describe as world-class gas hydrate deposits off the east coast of the North Island between East Cape and Marlborough. The total energy represented by these deposits is thought to easily exceed the energy contained in the giant Maui Gas Field.

Delegates at the conference will hear reports on the latest developments in gas hydrate research from several countries.

As part of the conference, a leading international expert on gas hydrates, Charlie Paull of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, will give a public presentation on gas hydrates at Victoria University’s Pipitea Campus at 7.30pm on Monday, 10 May.

At the end of the conference, GNS Science is hosting a one-day workshop at its Lower Hutt office for delegates to explore options for collaborative research on gas hydrates in New Zealand.

One of the conference organisers, Stuart Henrys of GNS Science, said the conference was well timed for New Zealand with local research set to ramp up in the next two years and a seabed survey planned for early 2011 specifically to explore gas hydrates off the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay coasts.

“Also, to have so many leading scientists focusing on our local gas hydrate opportunities and challenges could have many positive spinoffs including future international cooperation. This would bring research resources to New Zealand,” Dr Henrys said.

Under the seafloor, the frozen methane gas is held in a highly concentrated crystal lattice and its volume expands 164 times when it is brought to the surface. So one cubic meter of frozen hydrate becomes 164 cubic metres of methane at the surface.

There is no offshore commercial production of gas hydrates yet, although several nations including Japan, South Korea, India China, and the United States have exploration programmes that expect to start production in the near future. All these countries have representatives attending the conference at Te Papa.

The conference gets underway at Te Papa today (Monday) with presentations by three keynote speakers. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee is scheduled to speak to the conference on Tuesday. Below is a link to the conference programme. h

The conference is organised by representatives from GNS Science, NIWA, the Centre for Advanced Engineering, Victoria University of Wellington, and the University of Otago.

ENDS

© Scoop Media