中国石化新闻网讯 据国外媒体3月19日东京报道，大约50家日本公司将联合支持甲烷水合物的商业化。甲烷水合物在日本有望成为新一代能源来源的燃料。

也被称为“可燃冰”的甲烷水合物含有甲烷，但是，开采和运输这种埋在海底下面的燃料仍是一个障碍。通过带头商业化，日本希望导致开发这种可以取代核能或液化天然气的新能源。

一个专注加快技术开发（例如深水钻井）的组织将在4月份建立，这个将包括诸如千代田和JGC那样公司的组织打算在公司中鼓励团队协作，而参与企业将分享如何钻探和运输这种燃料的信息以及减低成本的方法。

这个组织希望在2023年或2023年以后在日本政府的帮助下开始甲烷水合物的商业化。这个组织将呼吁日本其他感兴趣公司尽早在本月内参加这个组织并计划在4月份举行其首次会议。

日本严重依赖来自中东的化石燃料进口，而其能源自给自足的程度在主要国家中是最低的。在这种情况下，日本非常希望甲烷水合物能成为国内能源的来源。一些估计表明在日本海上专属经济区内蕴藏着相当于国内100年液化天然气消费量的甲烷水合物储量。

日本石油天然气和金属国家公司已进行过提取这种燃料的试验钻井作业，但是，诸如成本以及其他能源的价格那样的障碍将对甲烷水合物的商业化构成挑战。

李峻 编译

原文如下：

Japan Gathering Forces to Mine 'Burning ice' Energy

Global Petroleum News/March 19, 2017/Tokyo

About 50 Japanese companies are joining forces to support the commercialization of methane hydrate, a fuel anticipated in Japan as a next-generation energy source.

Methane hydrate, also known as "burning ice", contains methane. But costs to extract and transport the fuel beneath the ocean floor remain an obstacle. By spearheading commercialization, Japan hopes to lead in exploiting the new energy, which could replace nuclear power or liquefied natural gas.

An organization dedicated to speeding up development of technologies such as deepwater drilling will be set up in April, and will include companies such as Chiyoda Corp. and JGC. It aims to encourage teamwork among companies, and participating businesses will share information on how to drill and transport the fuel, as well as ways to keep costs down.

The organization hopes to start commercialization of methane hydrate in or after 2023, with help from the Japanese government. It will call on other interested Japanese companies to join as early as this month, and plans its first meeting in April.

Japan relies heavily on fossil fuel imports from the Middle East, and its energy self-sufficiency is the lowest among major countries. Against that backdrop, there are high hopes for methane hydrate to become a domestic energy source. Some estimates indicate that there are methane hydrate reservoirs with 100 years' worth of domestic LNG consumption within Japan's exclusive economic offshore zone.

Test drills to extract the fuel were conducted by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., but obstacles such as cost, as well as prices of other energy sources are making commercialization challenging.