India and Russia to undertake research on gas hydrates

A programme on gas hydrate research has been initiated by the government to identify an alternative source of energy.
As part of this, an Indo-Russian Science and Technology Centre for gas hydrate studies has been set up in the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) campus at Chennai.

This centre will take up detailed investigations on gas hydrates, as a joint research programme between India and Russia, department of ocean development secretary Harsh K Gupta said.
"Gas hydrates are ice-like crystalline accumulations formed from methane and water. It is a newly discovered mineral deposit that occurs in ocean sediments. One cm of gas hydrate, when brought to the surface, is expected to yield 164 cm of natural gas. This can be utilised as a future resource," Dr Gupta told.

According to Dr Gupta, the consumption of fossil fuel is increasing at an alarming rate, causing depletion of existing reserves. Further, there was no major oil discovery in the last decade.
This situation prompted countries to search for alternative sources of energy. Gas hydrates with their abundant resource potential are emerging as potential clean fuel resources and could solve a likely energy crunch in the years to come.

According to Dr Gupta, gas hydrate exploration is a nascent science and various countries are carrying out research and development (R&D) activities to develop techniques for detection and quantification of gas hydrates.
"The preliminary assessment of geological condition and limited available seismic data suggests high possibility of occurrence of large quantity of gas hydrates within the exclusive economic zone of India," he said.

As part of the research programme, a regional level investigation to identify promising sites for drilling will be taken. It will also estimate the resource potential and establish geophysical techniques for detection.
"Under the technology component of the programme, two unique exploration tools, namely a multi-sensor and multi-activity survey tool and a remotely-operated coring system are proposed to be developed," he said.