メタンハイドレート資源量評価と陸上産出試験

抄録

Methane hydrate, often called “fiery ice”, has been examined as a possible future energy source. MH21 (the Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan) has advanced methane hydrate exploitation study covering the resource assessment around the Japan arc and the development of methane hydrate production technology since 2002. The existence of more than 10 methane hydrate concentrated zones were delineated in the Eastern Nankai Trough area and it was calculated that methane hydrate resources (in-place) in those methane hydrate concentrated zones corresponded to 20 tcf of methane gas. To verify the production techniques, twice onshore production tests have been conducted in the Canadian Arctic under international collaborations. Following the first production test in 2002 in which the thermal stimulation technique lead to the world's first gas production from methane hydrate-bearing sediment, the second test was performed to realize the depressurization for in-situ methane hydrate dissociation in 2007 and 2008. The discovery of the methane hydrate concentrated zones and the applicability of the energy efficient depressurization technique are important milestones to bring methane hydrate from an exotic material to real resource.