China recovers flammable ice from the bottom of the South Sea for the first time

After nearly two decades of exploration and exploration, China has successfully mined the so-called "flammable ice". The country's authorities qualified the result as a major breakthrough that could lead to a global energy revolution.

This type of natural gas hydrate was discovered in the South Sea region in 2007. For the first time, flammable ice was mined from the seabed on a floating production platform in the Shenhu region of the South China Sea, about 300 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Methane hydrates, in which methane molecules are trapped in a lattice of ice crystals, exist under conditions of low temperature and high pressure. According to Xinhua, one cubic meter of flammable ice contains 164 cubic meters of natural gas.

The new energy source is not exempt from risks. The release of methane to the atmosphere under permafrost conditions is considered one of the worst possible mechanisms for accelerating climate change. Methane hydrate is also difficult to recover, which makes production costs high.

The US Department of Energy has estimated that the world's sources of methane hydrate are so great that the total could exceed the combined energy content of all other fossil fuels.