Since 2000, the research and exploration of combustible ice has entered a peak period, and at least 30 countries and regions in the world have participated in it. Among them, the plan of the United States is the most perfect-the President's Science and Technology Committee recommended the research and development of combustible ice, and many people in the Senate and House of Representatives also proposed bills to support the research and development of combustible ice. The annual financial allocation for combustible ice research in the United States amounts to tens of millions of dollars.
In order to develop this new energy, with the participation of 19 countries, a joint research institute for marine geological sampling of deep strata was established, and 50 scientific and technical personnel sailed a ship equipped with advanced experimental facilities to explore the combustible ice on the seabed from the east coast of the United States. The seven-story cabin of this special ship for combustible ice exploration is equipped with advanced experimental equipment. This is the only ship in the world that can collect rock samples under the deep sea. The ship is equipped with experimental equipment, which can be used to study sedimentology, paleoanthropology, petrology, geochemistry and geophysics. This special-purpose ship is led by an M University in Texas, and it is financially assisted by science foundations in Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and the United States and the European Joint Science Foundation.
In the seabed area alone, the distribution area of combustible ice reaches 40 million square kilometers, accounting for 1/4 of the total ocean area of the earth. As an important follow-up energy source in 2 1 century, submarine natural gas hydrate and its disastrous impact on human living environment and submarine engineering facilities are increasingly concerned by scientists and governments all over the world. The Deep-sea Drilling Program (DSDP) which started in 1960s and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) which followed have carried out a lot of deep-sea drilling and marine geological geophysical exploration in various oceans and seas around the world, and directly or indirectly discovered natural gas hydrate in many seabed areas.
In recent years, China has made a major breakthrough in the investigation, exploration and development of "combustible ice". China Geological Survey organized and implemented the basic investigation of natural gas hydrate, and preliminarily delineated the prospect area of natural gas hydrate resources in China through systematic geological, geophysical, geochemical and biological comprehensive investigation and evaluation. In 2007, it was first drilled in the northern South China Sea, in 2009, it was drilled in Qilian Mountain in the permafrost region, and it was drilled again on the northern slope of the South China Sea in 20 13, and a new hydrate sample was obtained, and a high saturation hydrate layer was found. As the largest developing maritime power in the world, China has a serious energy shortage. There is a big gap between supply and demand of oil and gas resources in China. 1993, China changed from an oil and gas exporter to a net importer. Combustible ice in China is mainly distributed in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau tundra and the Northeast tundra. According to rough estimation, its resources are about 64.97x1012m3+02m3, which are 3.38x1kloc-0/2m3 and 12.5 x 65438+ respectively. In addition, combustible ice samples were also obtained in the Shenhu sea area in the northern South China Sea and the permafrost region of Qilian Mountain in Qinghai Province.
1999 imported more than 40 million tons of oil, nearly 70 million tons in 2000. It is estimated that the oil gap will reach 200 million tons in 20 10. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new energy sources to meet the rapid development of China's economy.
65438-0999 With the strong support of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources officially launched the investigation of natural gas hydrate resources, integrating all domestic superior forces. Up to now, China Geological Survey has conducted a comprehensive survey of natural gas hydrate in the Pearl River Mouth Basin for 40 voyages, and completed 45,800 kilometers of high-resolution multi-channel seismic survey, 36,800 kilometers of multi-beam survey, 7 100 kilometers of shallow stratigraphic profile survey, 480 stations of submarine geological sampling 1480 stations and 222 stations of submarine heat flow survey.
On April 14, 2005, China held a ceremony to collect the first discovered natural gas hydrate carbonate samples in geological museum. It is announced that China has discovered the world's largest "cold spring" carbonate rock distribution area for the first time, which is regarded as important evidence of the existence of "combustible ice" or natural gas hydrate, covering an area of about 430 square kilometers.
In the early morning of May 1 2007, China successfully sampled the northern part of the South China Sea for the first time, which confirmed that there are abundant natural gas hydrate resources in the northern part of the South China Sea, marking that the investigation and research level of natural gas hydrate in China has entered the advanced ranks in the world. China successfully drilled a sample of natural gas hydrate "combustible ice" in the northern South China Sea, thus becoming the fourth country to collect natural gas hydrate samples through the national R&D program after the United States, Japan and India.
In September, 2009, the geological department of China announced that a new energy source named combustible ice (also known as natural gas hydrate) has been discovered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and it is expected to be put into use in about ten years. According to a rough estimate, the prospective resources are at least 35 billion tons of oil equivalent.
2065438+From June to September, 2003, marine geologists in China drilled high-purity natural gas hydrate (commonly known as "combustible ice") samples for the first time in the eastern waters of the Pearl River Mouth Basin along the coast of Guangdong Province, and obtained considerable controlled reserves through drilling. The natural gas hydrate samples discovered this time mainly have four characteristics: shallow burial, large thickness, many types and high purity. The controlled reserves are 654.38+000 billion cubic meters ~ 654.38+050 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to the scale of super-large conventional natural gas mines.
20 14 the 8th international conference on natural gas hydrate sponsored by China geological survey and China academy of sciences opened in Beijing on 29th. The reporter learned from the conference that China plans to carry out the gas hydrate drilling project in China sea area in 20 15, which will strongly promote the exploration and development of "combustible ice" in China and trigger a "revolution" in the energy development and utilization in China. On March 2, 20 13, Japan successfully extracted methane from the deep-sea combustible ice layer near Aichi Prefecture, becoming the first country in the world to master the mining technology of submarine combustible ice. Japan hopes to develop mature technology and realize large-scale commercial production in 20 18.
The mining test was conducted by the Oil, Natural Gas, Metal and Mineral Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. The agency used the Earth Deep Exploration Ship "Earth" to dig 330 meters, about 1 1,000 meters, from the seabed near Womei Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. After reaching the combustible ice layer, water and methane are separated by pumping out the water in the combustible ice to reduce its pressure, and then methane is extracted. The whole process took about 4 hours. The agency will continue to conduct excavation tests in the sea area for about two weeks to further improve the technology.
It is said that combustible ice is widely distributed in the waters near Japan, and the buried amount is enough for Japan to use 100 years. Only the buried amount of the sea area excavated in this experiment can be used by Japan for over 10 years. After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese nuclear power plants stopped operating one after another. In order to make up for the power shortage, Japan has to rely on thermal power generation, and the import of natural gas and oil for thermal power generation has surged, resulting in a huge trade deficit in Japan. Japan expects to reduce or even get rid of external dependence and realize energy self-sufficiency through the commercial production of combustible ice.
30 miles from the coast of Honshu Island, scientists discovered a trench with amazing reserves: the methane in the trench is crystal, about 500 meters thick, and the total amount is 40 trillion cubic meters. Although this reserve is not comparable to Saudi Arabia or Russia's oil resources, it is enough for Japan to use for some time. Japanese scientists are very excited about this result, and they say they will come up with appropriate plans to exploit these forgotten resources as soon as possible.
Due to the need of development, Japan is eager to change the situation of energy dependence on others, and has turned its attention to the sleeping "energy crystal" on the seabed-natural gas hydrate, also known as "combustible ice". (It is a crystalline substance produced by mixing water and natural gas at medium, high pressure and low temperature. It looks like ice and snow, and it can burn when it is ignited. Hundreds of millions of tons of combustible ice are waiting to be used 3,000 feet under the calm Pacific Ocean near Japan. Japan believes that if these resources can be used by Japan, it will greatly improve its dependence on energy imports from the Middle East and Indonesia. According to preliminary estimation, these "combustible ice cubes" can be used in Japan for 14 years. But while developing these unknown resources, there is a key problem that must be dealt with: environmental protection. The United States and Germany lead the world in the exploitation of combustible ice.
Since 1980s, developed countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany and Canada have invested heavily in the investigation, research and evaluation of natural gas hydrate at home and abroad, and countries such as the United States, Canada and India have also formulated national plans for the exploration and development of natural gas hydrate. Japan and India, in particular, are in a leading position in the exploration and development of natural gas hydrates.
Gas hydrate gas reservoirs have been discovered in 79 countries and regions in the world, and at least 30 countries and regions in the world are conducting research, investigation and exploration of combustible ice. The research report on combustible ice market and development trend of industry insight network shows that the former Soviet Union discovered the first combustible ice gas reservoir in Siberia in 1960 and put it into development in 1969, with a gas production of 14 and a total gas production of 500170,000 cubic meters. The investigation of combustible ice began in America 1969. Since 1998, the United States has listed combustible ice as a strategic energy source for national development in its long-term national planning, and plans to conduct commercial trial mining on 20 15.