Freshly discovered reserves of combustible ice can power China for 90 years
China has discovered new sources of frozen combustible ice on the tundra of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which according to researchers can supply China with 90 years worth of energy. The new reserve equals at least 35 billion tons of oil and is one of the newest sources of energy to be discovered.
Combustible ice is a frozen form of natural gas that has been found in high altitude frozen plateaus as well as underwater in marine sediments. The frozen hydrates can be lit on fire, however, researchers expect that the hydrate will have to go through a phase change process where it will be melted into methane and water before it can be combusted efficiently.
One cubic meter of combustible ice contains 164 cubic meters of natural gas and is considered to have few impurities, which means that the fuel can be combusted with lower emissions.
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