Methane hydrate can found all over the planet in places where methane is under sufficient pressure and low temperatures, typically under frozen permafrost or far beneath the ocean floor. Scientists have yet to find a way of returning samples of the energy-rich substance to the surface under the same pressure it is found in its natural state. Enter Prof. Peter Flemings, a research scientist in UT’s Institute for Geophysics, a unit in the Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG), who leads an $80-million, multi-year research project in the Gulf of Mexico. The ultimate goal of the research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is to figure out how to tap the potentially enormous energy resource. Read more and watch a video about this groundbreaking research on the JSG site, and check out a video and Q&A in Alcalde magazine.
