China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, plans to
spend 800 million yuan (US$100 million) over the next 10 years to
study next-generation fuel, called natural gas hydrates, that could
possibly ease the nation's increasing reliance on oil imports in
the long run.
It expects the technology to be viable between 2010 and 2015 for
trial exploration of the new energy source that consists of a
crystalline compound of water and natural gas with methane as its
major ingredient, said an industry report posted on the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) website.
"But further technical breakthroughs need to be made before the
fuel can be commercially developed," according to another report
published on Monday.
When lit, every cubic meter of gas hydrates, commonly known as
"fire in ice", is capable of releasing as much energy as 160 to 180
cubic meters of natural gas.
Optimists say gas hydrates could reliably replace oil and coal,
conventional sources of energy, thanks to abundant deposits in
seabeds.
They believe that the world's gas hydrates reserves are
equivalent to as much as twice the combined amount of coal, oil and
natural gas, sufficient to meet global energy demands for a
thousand years.
China began preliminary research into gas hydrates in 1999, and
plans to work with its German counterparts to sample the fuel in
the northern part of the South China Sea within the year.
"China so far has discovered enormous reserves of gas hydrates
in the offshore areas. Reserves in the northern part of the South
China Sea alone are expected to amount to half the oil resources on
land," according to the NDRC report.
China had recoverable oil reserves of as much as 21.2 billion
tons last September, according to figures from the Ministry of Land
and Resources.
Impressive as it might sound, some experts are not so
enthusiastic, saying the new energy source would not be available
for everyday use until far into the future.
"Like hydrogen technology, the gas hydrates development is still
at a very nascent stage, and we need to do a lot more work to get
it off the ground," said Ni Weidou, chairman of the Tsinghua-BP
Clean Energy Research and Education Center. "Meanwhile, we cannot
rule out the possibility of finding another source which is
competitive with gas hydrates in the future."
Ni said coal-to-fuel technologies would be the most feasible to
address concerns over oil and coal prices, citing China's rich coal
resources.
"As oil prices are not expected to fall below US$50 per barrel,
coal-converted fuels such as methanol and other oil products will
be major alternatives to ease China's heavy reliance on oil," Ni
said.
A growing number of energy firms have shown enthusiasm for
coal-to-fuel projects in China to cash in on the government's
willingness to boost the development of oil alternatives.
The nation's biggest coal company, China Shenhua Group, has
teamed up with global technology leaders Royal Dutch Shell and
South Africa-based Sasol on a joint study of coal-to-liquids
projects in China, which aims to convert coal into 30 million tons
of oil by 2020.
Its smaller rival China National Coal Group Corp has also
announced a partnership with four other energy firms including
Sinopec to build a 21-billion-yuan (US$2.6-billion) project in
North China to turn coal into methanol, a blending component for
petrol, and dimethyl ether, a clean fuel that can replace liquefied
petroleum gas and diesel.
To avoid excessive investment boosted by the industry boom, Ni
said the government should come up with more regulations and
standards on the construction of coal-to-fuel projects in
China.
The NDRC earlier last month issued an industry notice to tighten
controls on such projects, and its Vice-Minister Zhang Guobao said
companies should remain rational when developing plants.
"The coal-to-fuel technology is a good way (for China) to handle
the high oil prices, but we should develop it with an awareness of
(having to balance) environmental protection and economic
returns."
(China Daily August 23, 2006)