India is highly energy starved. Since nature has not been benevolent to the country as neither is the country endowed with rich deposits of oil or gas nor with energy rich uranium. Consequently, to power a 1.25 billion people India spends a whopping USD 160 billion annually for importing oil and gas to meet the surging domestic demands.
Frozen crystalline methane deposits also called 'fire ice' could offer a real hydrocarbon bonanza when it gets tapped. It would be a clean fuel and most importantly sourced from India so would help lasting in energy security.
Today more than 85 per cent of India's domestic demand of oil and gas is met through imports. A 2014 Goldman Sachs report said, "India has a fifth of the world's population, but only a 30th of its energy."
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Commenting on the current situation, noted energy expert Ratan K Sinha, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, says, "India cannot perpetually depend on imported energy, very soon the country will have to look at options that will give the country energy independence."
Amid this gloomy prognosis, there is one hydrocarbon source that is available in plenty but remains untapped, since technological challenges of commercially mining it are yet to be overcome. This is a hydrocarbon 'diamond' called gas hydrate which is a form of solidified natural gas that occurs at the bottom of the ocean.
A just concluded Indo-Japanese expedition on board a world-class ship called Chikyu has again reinforced the huge potential of this energy rich deposit. In the 150 day, cruise of Chikyu that cost about Rs 616 crore exploratory drilling was done in the Bay of Bengal to map the hidden hydrocarbon resource.
The seas of the country are home to some rich beds of what are called 'gas hydrates', these are essentially solidified lumps of the commonly occurring 'marsh gas'. This highly-inflammable gas called methane under certain very specific conditions solidifies along with water and forms a white 'ice cream' like substance.
This white mass has been discovered in large quantities in the seas around the Krishna-Godavari-Mahanadi basin; in the Andaman Islands; off the coast of Saurashtra; and in the Kerala-Konkan region. When tapped it could power India with an abundant supply of natural gas for a long time. It should be noted that methane is a highly potent green house gas and hence its mining has to be done with great care to ensure none leaks out.
