Gas Hydrates: Energy Security for the Future or a Climate Disaster
Gas hydrates and energy security issues have paralysed the atmosphere, and never has it been more imperative to delve deep into the heart of the environmental state of affairs in order to secure a better future for the world as we know it.
Evidence of how modern technology and earthly affairs have significantly impacted Global stability has caused tension in the scientific fraternity for the past three decades (Hook and Allet, 2009).
Various damage control measures and activities have been taken up since them, with the foremost of them being the symbiosis between organisations such as World Meteorological Organization (WMO) with that of United Nations environment Program.
Subsequently, around 1992, it led to the formation of SRES, or Special Report on Emission Scenarios, which published its report in 2000.
It describes in detail about 40 different scenarios pertaining to GHGs or greenhouse gas emissions. Six modelling teams were developed. The 40 various scenarios across the various geographic regions in the world are given below in the table(Jerpe and Linner,2008).
Four different scenarios have been predicted which attempts to describe the world as we know it
The A1 storyline describes a future world with accelerated economic growth but low population growth and the overall implementation of innovative, better technologies. A2 is indicative of very high population growth; technology growth is fragmented and slow compared to the other scenarios.
The B1 family scenario depicts a convergent state of the world with low population similar to that of A1, where the world has rapid economic changes with the focus being on a service and information economy but with lower inclination to materialistic possessions with less pollution and technologies that are resource e efficient.
Lastly, there is B2, where priority is given to local solutions to various problems concerning economic conditions and social and environmental sustainability (Collet,2008).
It is a port trait of acceptable and moderate population growth, sustainable economic growth, and technological changes that are less diverse than in the other scenarios.
A close scrutiny of the various issues that the four scenarios and environmentalists are concerned about include Quantifiable reserves which are being depleted at a n alarming pace,Social Impact or Human dimension, risks associated with various natural disters,Global warming , Benthic Disturbance and underwater cultural heritage
Gas Hydrates: Energy Security for the future or a Climate Disaster
Energy security is highly essential for future or climate disaster. It is the ultimate irreplaceable natural resource which if not restored would lead to severe disaster in future.
Energy security, therefore, includes oil depletion, as well as propositions to secure fossil fuels and climate change, which has been identified as a major challenge of the century. Scholars Nel and Cooper (2008) identified that regular use of fossil fuels would lead to global warming.
Time and again, society has been constantly alerted about fossil fuel exhaustion and the finite supply of natural resources like oil, gas, or coal, which are a major source of energy. However, though natural resources are largely used for energy production, there is limited planning for restoring or saving resources for the future (Sain, 2009).
Therefore, Nel and Cooper here mentioned that energy is commonly treated as a limitless exogenous input to economic planning, with the result that energy demand is well-defined but disconnected from the physical and logistical realities of supply.
Ironically, despite knowing about the limitations of natural resources, people pay little attention to the slowly approaching problems in the future and constantly use them for various purposes. According to natural scientists, the formation of fossil fuels would take millions of years (Ruppel, 2011).
Thus encouraging resources expert in future emission scenarios may help in nurturing extensive resource availability in future and also support future production outputs.
To maintain a balance between the regular exhaustion of fossil fuels and energy security, geoscientists are earnestly looking for alternative energy sources to help the present and future generations (Sain, 2009).
Research confirms that gas hydrates in the form of ice-like crystals of water as well as low molecular weight hydrocarbons which are formed at high pressure.
In 1894, the identification of “free gas” methane offered tremendous hope to solve the oil or gas crisis faced by the present generation. Crystalline water and methane were found hydrating from the gas, which is generally found in shallow sediments of permafrost regions and the outer side of continental margins.
Parameters like bathymetry, seafloor temperature, sediment thicknesses, rate of sedimentation, and total organic carbon (TOC) content indicate good prospects for gas hydrates in the huge margins of the subcontinent (Sain, 2009).
Thus it can be inferred that the above mentioned parameters offers tremendous scope to a country’s economic growth by offering scopes to the natural scientists to explore and investigate the new treasure energy by implementing different geological, microbiological, geophysical and geochemical methods.
Scholars and earth scientists have confirmed that gas hydrates are generally volatile and not stable like other minerals, namely coal, oil, etc. The extraction of such resources leaves a tremendous impact on the environment; hence, appropriate mining strategies need to be incorporated to protect nature (Ruppel, 2011).
However, apt technology for producing gas from gas hydrates is still under development, yet the research process ensures that the environmentalists would be able to offer a unique solution to the looming issue in near future (Collett et al.1998)
Over years the energy Concerns have repeatedly been expressed through the various wars the OPEC oil embargo in 1973, the two gulf wars and the 1978 revolution in Iran.
The figures themselves tell the story. The US Department of Energy predicts that by 2020, the demand for natural gas in the US will increase by 53%. Conventional natural gas reserves are expected to be over 63 years away, necessitating the immediate release of methane hydrate energy (Berndt et al. 2008).
To counter these situations, it is imperative to focus on more research on global climatic changes and carbon cycle management, together with promoting a clean and safe environment propelled by the use of efficient production systems of Methane hydrate.
To make all these plausible, it will be of paramount importance to develop nongovernmental partnerships with the foreign and private sectors.
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