Why in News ?

Fossil fuels and looks out for alternate sources of clean energy, there is good news from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. Krishna-Godavari Basin Methane will be a good source of natural gas.

Research for Methane in the Basin

• Study conducted by researchers at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) found that the methane hydrate deposits are located in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin are of biogenic origin.
• The study was conducted as a part of the DST-SERB young scientist project titled Elucidating the community structure of methanogenic archaea in methane hydrate.

What is Methane ?

• Methane, colorless, odorless gas that occurs abundantly in nature and as a product of certain human activities.
• It is highly flammable gas composed of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.
• It can be produced naturally and synthetically, and when burned in the presence of oxygen, it produces carbon dioxide and water vapor.
• Uses.
  • Methane is the primary component to produce heat and electricity around the world.
  • Also used in chemical reactions to produce other important gases like hydrogen and carbon monoxide and carbon black.
  • Methane is a clean and economical fuel.
• Methane Formation
  • Methane emissions are generated through a process called enteric fermentation cows.
  • Global methane emissions are generated by organic waste decomposing in landfills.
  • Coal mining

Methane Hydrate

• Methane Hydrate is the World’s Largest Natural Gas Resource
• How it formed ?
  • Methane hydrate is formed when hydrogen-bonded water and methane gas come into contact at high pressures and low temperatures in oceans.
  • It is estimated that one cubic meter of methane hydrate contains 160-180 cubic meters of methane.
  • The lowest estimate of methane present in the methane hydrates in KG Basin is twice that of all fossil fuel reserves available worldwide.
• Methane hydrate is an ice that only occurs naturally in subsurface deposits.
• In fact no large-scale commercial methane production from gas hydrate deposits, the production has either been small scale or experimental.

Methane Deposit in the World

• Found beneath Arctic permafrost, beneath Antarctic ice, and in sedimentary deposits along continental margins worldwide.
• They are also found in deep-water sediments of inland lakes and seas and under Antarctic ice.
• In most situations the methane hydrate is within a few hundred meters of the sediment surface.

Source : PIB

Topic

GS I : Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent)

GS II : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Current Affairs Compilation : 14 September 2020