Japan to burn flammable ice for energy

Japanese scientists are pioneering a new technology that could reshape the global energy industry.

Even better, a technology that revolves around a resource which Japan has in abundance buried under the ocean. The Japanese government wants to burn "flammable ice" for energy.

Japan is trying. Between 2002 and 2017, its government spent around $1 billion on research and development, according to the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry.

These ice crystals hold a remarkable quantity of natural methane gas. It is estimated that one cubic meter of frozen gas hydrate contains 164 cubic meters of methane.

Hold a match to the ice and the gas ignites so that instead of melting, it burns. The problem with gas hydrates is that the gas is hard to extract.

Analysis of extracted core samples and seismic data has revealed that 1.1 trillion cubic meters of methane -- enough to meet Japan's gas needs for more than a decade -- lies below the floor of the trough.

UCJ, UNILORIN.