An Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’

An Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’

Published: Wednesday, 13 Mar 2013 | 8:43 AM ET
By: Hiroko Tabuchi

TOKYO — Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate — sometimes called "flammable ice" — a breakthrough that officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still little-understood energy source.

The gas, whose extraction from the undersea hydrate reservoir was thought to be a world first, could provide an alternative source of energy to known oil and gas reserves. That could be crucial especially for Japan, which is the world's biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and is engaged in a public debate about whether to resume the country's heavy reliance on nuclear power.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100545740

Japan to Begin Test Production for Frozen Gas Locked in Seabed

Japan to Begin Test Production for Frozen Gas Locked in Seabed
By Tsuyoshi Inajima & Yuji Okada - Mar 11, 2013

Japan, which has almost no natural energy resources of its own, will begin the world’s first offshore drilling operation this week to extract frozen natural gas locked under the seabed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-11/japan-to-begin-test-production-for-frozen-gas-locked-in-seabed.html