UT Austin, ExxonMobil team up for methane hydrate research

UT Austin and scientists from ExxonMobil are collaborating on a special project aimed at learning more about methane hydrates, a clean and abundant energy source that holds tremendous potential to fuel the world’s demand for energy. The ice-like solid, found under high pressure and cold temperatures beneath the ocean floor, is stable in its natural environment. Bringing samples to the surface intact so that they can be studied has been a daunting and costly challenge, however. In response, the U.S. Department of Energy has funded an ambitious research initiative led by UT’s Institute for Geophysics to extract methane hydrate samples from the Gulf of Mexico. Read more.