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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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CHARTING THE FUTURE OF METHANE HYDRATE RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES

Committee to Review the Activities Authorized Under the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000

Ocean Studies Board

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

Division on Earth and Life Studies

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DE-AM01-99PO80016 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

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Cover art designed by Van Nguyen of the National Academies Press, and includes a photograph of a burning methane hydrate taken by Liujuan Tang of the University of Hawaii. This photograph is reprinted with permission of Dr. Stephen Masutani, University of Hawaii, Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, © 2003.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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Committee to Review the Activities Authorized Under the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 20001

EARL H. DOYLE (Chair),

Shell Oil (retired), Sugar Land, Texas

SCOTT R. DALLIMORE,

Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, British Columbia

RANA A. FINE,

University of Miami, Florida

AMOS M. NUR,

Stanford University, California

MICHAEL E.Q. PILSON,

University of Rhode Island, Narragansett

WILLIAM S. REEBURGH,

University of California, Irvine

E. DENDY SLOAN JR.,

Colorado School of Mines, Golden

ANNE M. TRÉHU,

Oregon State University, Corvallis

NRC Staff

JOANNE BINTZ, Study Director

JENNIFER MERRILL, Study Director

NANCY CAPUTO, Research Associate

The work of this committee was overseen by the Ocean Studies Board and the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Research Council.

1  

The committee and staff biographies are provided in Appendix A.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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Ocean Studies Board

NANCY RABALAIS (Chair),

Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin

LEE G. ANDERSON,

University of Delaware, Newark

WHITLOW AU,

University of Hawaii at Manoa

ARTHUR BAGGEROER,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

RICHARD B. DERISO,

Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, La Jolla, California

ROBERT B. DITTON,

Texas A&M University, College Station

EARL DOYLE,

Shell Oil (retired), Sugar Land, Texas

ROBERT DUCE,

Texas A&M University, College Station

PAUL G. GAFFNEY II,

National Defense University, Washington, D.C.

WAYNE R. GEYER,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

STANLEY R. HART,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

RALPH S. LEWIS,

Connecticut Geological Survey, Hartford

WILLIAM F. MARCUSON III,

U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (retired), Vicksburg, Mississippi

JULIAN P. MCCREARY JR.,

University of Hawaii, Honolulu

JACQUELINE MICHEL,

Research Planning, Inc., Columbia, South Carolina

JOAN OLTMAN-SHAY,

Northwest Research Associates, Inc., Bellevue, Washington

ROBERT T. PAINE,

University of Washington, Seattle

SHIRLEY A. POMPONI,

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Florida

FRED N. SPIESS,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

DANIEL SUMAN,

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida

NRC Staff

SUSAN ROBERTS, Director

JENNIFER MERRILL, Senior Program Officer

DAN WALKER, Senior Program Officer

ALAN B. SIELEN, Visiting Scholar

ANDREAS SOHRE, Financial Associate

SHIREL SMITH, Administrative Associate

JODI BACHIM, Research Associate

NANCY CAPUTO, Research Associate

SARAH CAPOTE, Senior Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
×

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

GEORGE M. HORNBERGER (Chair),

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

M. LEE ALLISON,

Kansas Energy Council, Topeka

JILL BANFIELD,

University of California, Berkeley

STEVEN R. BOHLEN,

Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.

ADAM M. DZIEWONSKI,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

RHEA GRAHAM,

Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico

ROBYN HANNIGAN,

Arkansas State University, State University

V. RAMA MURTHY,

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

RAYMOND A. PRICE,

Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

MARK SCHAEFER,

NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia

STEVEN M. STANLEY,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

BILLIE L. TURNER II,

Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts

STEPHEN G. WELLS,

Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada

THOMAS J. WILBANKS,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee

NRC Staff

ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director

PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer

TAMARA L. DICKINSON, Senior Program Officer

DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer

ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer

RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar

KRISTEN L. KRAPF, Program Officer

JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Associate

VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Associate

TANJA E. PILZAK, Research Associate

JAMES B. DAVIS, Program Assistant

AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Program Assistant

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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Preface

Methane hydrate research took a great leap forward with the passage of the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-193; Appendix B). This act mandates several levels of coordination for a program in methane hydrate research, including specific research areas to be pursued and a method for scientific input and oversight through an advisory panel and interagency coordinating team. In the past four years, the Department of Energy (DOE) Methane Hydrate Research and Development (R&D) Program has funded more than 30 projects totaling more than $29 million. The projects encompass a wide array of field and laboratory studies conducted in collaboration with academic institutions, industry, and other federal agencies. Without congressional reauthorization, Section 3 of the act, which defines the program, will cease to be effective at the end of Fiscal Year 2005.

In addition to the mandates already mentioned, the act calls for the National Research Council (NRC) to study progress made under the program initiated by the act and to make recommendations for future methane hydrate research and development needs. The Committee to Review the Activities Authorized Under the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 was convened for this purpose (Appendix A). Committee members included representatives from both academia and industry with a wide range of scientific and engineering expertise. The committee determined that it could not address the task thoroughly without reviewing the way in which program funds are awarded and the level of scientific oversight within the program. The committee agreed that it was outside the scope of the study to evaluate the scientific merit of all 30 projects funded by the DOE Methane Hydrate R&D Program and so chose to focus on two large international projects in which DOE participated; three large-scale, industry-managed projects that are expected to consume more than 60 percent of planned funding; and a few smaller-scale, academic and laboratory projects. The committee also was charged

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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with determining research needs for a future hydrate program. The committee did not recommend specific projects, but instead focused on emphasizing areas for future research.

In preparation for this study, the committee met in open session at three locations (Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; and La Jolla, California) to gather information from managers who oversee the DOE Methane Hydrate R&D Program, interagency collaborators, members of the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee mandated by the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000, and members of the industrial and scientific community that participate in research funded by the program (Appendix C). Some committee members also attended the DOE Office of Fossil Energy Methane Hydrate Research and Development Conference and a Gulf of Mexico Naturally Occurring Hydrates/Joint Industry Project Workshop in Westminster, Colorado, from September 29 to October 1, 2003, sponsored by DOE and ChevronTexaco (Appendix D). The purpose of attending these meetings was to better familiarize the committee with the results of the DOE Methane Hydrate R&D Program studies, to meet the participants, and to observe community input into the DOE Methane Hydrate R&D Program.

The primary goal of this report is not only to review the progress made under the act and to provide advice on future methane hydrate research and development needs, but also to emphasize the importance of scientific oversight and community input to funding that research. Such oversight, incorporating external proposal review and involvement of the advisory bodies mandated by the act and sponsored for that purpose, would bring a great deal to the program.

Earl Doyle, Chair

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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Acknowledgments

This report was greatly enhanced by those who participated in three open meetings held as part of this study. The committee would first like to acknowledge the efforts of those who gave presentations at open meetings: Edith Allison, Department of Energy (DOE), Fossil Energy Headquarters; Brad Tomer, DOE, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL); Deborah Hutchinson, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); Robert LaBelle, Minerals Management Service; Bilal Haq, National Science Foundation, and Planning Committee of the Secretary of Energy; Bhakta Rath, Naval Research Laboratory; Barbara Moore, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Art Johnson, Hydrate Energy International, and chair of the DOE Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee; Robert Hunter, BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc.; Sivakumar Subramanian, ChevronTexaco; Thomas Williams, Maurer Technology, Inc; William Gwilliam, DOE, NETL; Steve Kirby, USGS; Tom Lorenson, USGS; Emrys Jones, ChevronTexaco; Tim Collett, USGS; George Moridis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Peter Brewer, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; and Miriam Kastner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. These talks helped set the stage for fruitful discussions in the closed sessions that followed.

The committee would like to thank the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, especially the director James Zucchetto, for expert advice on this activity. The committee is also grateful to a number of people who provided important discussion and/or material for this report including: Harry Roberts, Louisiana State University; William Parrish, Conoco-Phillips (retired); Timothy Collett, U.S. Geological Survey; Brad Tomer, DOE; Edith Allison, DOE; Ray Boswell, DOE; Stephen Masutani, University of Hawaii; Ted McCallister, DOE; Keith A. Kvenvolden, USGS; Alexei V. Milkov, BP America; Bill Liddell, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation; Ross Chapman, University of Victoria; John Beck, Ocean Drilling Program; Kim Bracchi, Ocean Drilling Program; and Liujuan Tang, University of Hawaii.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11094.
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This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report.

ROBERT G. BEA, University of California, Berkeley

JOHN B. CURTIS, Colorado School of Mines, Golden

ROBERT FISK, Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage, Alaska

GERALD D. HOLDER, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

CHRIS MAPLES, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada

ALEXEI V. MILKOV, BP America, Houston, Texas

CHARLES K. PAULL, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California

DAVID W. SCHOLL, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California

JEFF SEVERINGHAUS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

PATRICIA SOBECKY, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

JEAN K. WHELAN, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Carl Wunsch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and Raymond Price, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, who were appointed by the National Research Council, and were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

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Methane hydrate is a natural form of clathrate - a chemical substance in which one molecule forms a lattice around a "guest" molecule with chemical bonding. In this clathrate, the guest molecule is methane and the lattice is formed by water to form an ice-like solid. Methane hydrate has become the focus of international attention because of the vast potential for human use worldwide. If methane can be produced from hydrate, a reasonable assumption given that there are no obvious technical or engineering roadblocks to commercial production, the nation's natural gas energy supply could be extended for many years to come.

This report reviews the Department of Energy's (DOE) Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program, the project selection process, and projects funded to date. It makes recommendations on how the DOE program could be improved. Key recommendations include focusing DOE program emphasis and research in 7 priority areas; incorporating greater scientific oversight in the selection, initiation, monitoring, and assessment of major projects funded by the DOE; strengthening DOE's contribution to education and training through funding of fellowships, and providing project applicants with a set of instructions and guidelines outlining requirements for timely and full disclosure of project results and consequences of noncompliance.

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