This second edition provides extensive information on the attributes of the Natural Gas Hydrate (NGH) system, highlighting opportunities for the innovative use and modification of existing technologies, as well as new approaches and technologies that have the potential to dramatically lower the cost of NGH exploration and production.

Above all, the book compares the physical, environmental, and commercial aspects of the NGH system with those of other gas resources. It subsequently argues and demonstrates that natural gas can provide the least expensive energy during the transition to, and possibly within, a renewable energy future, and that NGH poses the lowest environmental risk of all gas resources.

Intended as a non-mathematical, descriptive text that should be understandable to non-specialists as well as to engineers concerned with the physical characteristics of NGH reservoirs and their production, the book is written for readers at the university graduate level. It offers a valuable reference guide for environmentalists and the energy community, and includes discussions that will be of great interest to energy industry professionals, legislators, administrators, regulators, and all those concerned with energy options and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Autorentext
Michael D. Max has a broad background including geology, geophysics, chemistry, acoustics, and information technology. He has a BSc from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, an MSc from the University of Wyoming, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. He has worked as a geologist / geophysicist for the Geological Survey of Ireland, the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, and the NATO Undersea Research Center, La Spezia, Italy. From 1999 to 2011 Max was CEO and Head of Research for Marine Desalination Systems LLC, which established a hydrate research laboratory and explored industrial applications of gas hydrate. He is the author of many scientific publications and four textbooks, and holds over 40 patents. He assisted in the writing of the US Gas Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000. Michael is a member of the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy 2014-2019, and is Co-Chair, Diving Committee of the Marine Technology Society. He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Geological Sciences of University College, Dublin, Ireland.  HEI has been closed.  Michael is now carrying on his R&D activities through Max Systems LLC and University College, Dublin, Ireland.
Art Johnson was a founding partner of Hydrate Energy International, LLC (HEI). Prior to forming HEI in 2002, Art had been a geologist with Chevron for 25 years, where his career included most aspects of hydrocarbon exploration and development. Art was instrumental in initiating Chevron's Gulf of Mexico program for gas hydrate studies in 1995. He advised Congress and the White House on energy issues starting in 1997, and chaired advisory committees for several Secretaries on Energy. He had a longstanding role coordinating the research efforts of industry, universities, and government agencies. Art served as the Gas Hydrate Lead Analyst for the Global Energy Assessment, an international project undertaken by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) of Vienna, Austria and supported by the World Bank, UN organizations, and national governments that evaluated the energy resource bases of the entire planet with a view to addressing energy needs in the decades to come. He was Chair of the Gas Hydrate Committee of the Energy Minerals Division of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and was also very active in his Methodist Church and in helping with hurricane relief and peacemaking activities. Much to the sorrow of his good friend and co-author, and of countless other friends, Art unexpectedly passed away on August 9, 2017.

Inhalt
Preface
Chapter 1Energy Overview:  Future for Natural Gas 1.1  Energy, GDP, and Society1.2  The Energy Mix1.3  Electrical Load Characteristic1.4  Matching Power Supply to Demand1.5. The 100% Renewable Energy Objective and the Cost and Security Roadblocks1.6  Energy Policy in a CO2 Sensitive Power Future
1.7  Strategic  Importance of Natural Gas in the New Energy Paradigm1.8  Natural Gas Backstop to Renewable EnergyReferences
Chapter 2Economic Characteristics of Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate 2.1  Natural Gas Hydrate2.1.1  NGH as a Natural Gas Storage Media2.1.2  Solution Concentration Controls Growth2.1.2.1  Gas Transport within a Sediment Pile2.1.3  NGH Stability2.1.4  The Gas Hydrate Stability Zone2.1.5  The Seafloor may not be the Top of the GHSZ:2.2  NGH Stability within the GHSZ: Implications for Gas Production Cost2.3  Geology Controls NGH Paragenesis2.4  Production-Oriented Classification of Oceanic NGH Concentrations in Permeable Strata2.5  NGH may be the Largest Natural Gas Resource on Earth2.6  Other NGH Concentrations that May Be Producable2.6.1  NGH Vent Plugs2.6.2  Stratabound Secondary Porosity NGH Concentrations2.6.3  Blake Ridge Type Deposits2.7  NGH in the Spectrum of Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources2.8  Low Environmental Risk Character of the NGH Resource2.9  Could Low-Salinity Water be a Valuable Byproduct?
References
Chapter 3Exploration for Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate 3.1  NGH Exploration3.1.1  Deepwater and Ultra-deepwater3.1.2  Basin modeling3.1.3  NGH Prospect Zone.3.2  NGH Petroleum System Analysis3.2.1  NGH and Conventional Hydrocarbon System Analysis3.3  Marine Sediment Host for NGH deposits3.4. NGH Reservoir Hydrocarbon Component Expectations3.4.1  Closed NGH Concentrations3.4.2  Open NGH Concentrations3.5  NGH Exploration Methods3.5.1  Seismic Survey & Analysis3.5.1.1  BSR (Bottom Simulating Reflector)3.5.2  Ocean Bottom Seismometers3.5.3  Electromagnetic (EM) Survey3.5.4.  NGH Ground-Truthing:  Drilling3.5.4.1  Picking Drilling Targets3.5.5  State of NGH Exploration3.6  NGH Exploration Potential: Glacial Period Sea Level Low Stands in the Mediterranean and  Black Seas3.6.1  The Mediterranean Sea3.6.2  Lowstand in the Black Sea: Sand Transfer to the Slopes3.6.3  GHSZ and NGH Prospectability in the Mediterranean and Black Seas3.7  National NGH Programs and Company Interest3.7.1  Exploration Activity in Regions and Countries3.8  Frontier RegionsReferences
Chapter 4Potential High Quality Reservoir Sediments in the Gas Hydrate Stability Zone4.1  High Quality Sand Reservoirs on Continental Margin.4.2  Subsided Rift-Related Sediments 4.3  Paralic Reservoirs4.4  Aeolian - Sabkha Reservoirs4.5  Contourites4.6  Sequence Stratigraphy-Related Marine Sequences4.7 The Special Case of Hig...