OREANDA-NEWS. December 11, 2014. In response to growing energy demands, China is quickening its efforts to explore alternative energy sources ranging from ‘flammable ice’ to shale gas, although technological bottlenecks and environmental concerns are hampering efforts to commercialise them.

In September, the China Geological Survey – the government agency that oversees geological and energy research – announced that by 2030, commercial extraction of methane from gas hydrates, also known as ‘flammable ice’, will begin in China. Gas hydrates are chemical lattices in which small molecules – including gases such as methane – are locked up in a network of hydrogen bonded water molecules and are found in permafrost and ocean sediments.

They represent an enormous and as yet untapped source of fuel, and vast reserves have been identified in the South China Sea and northwestern Qilian Mountains. It is estimated that in total, China may be sitting on gas hydrates equivalent to 110 billion tonnes of oil. Last year, the entire country’s energy consumption was equivalent to 2.6 billion tonnes.

Challenges ahead

But although gas hydrates exploitation may hold promise for the future, huge technological and environmental challenges stand in the way.