At this experimental rig in the arctic, ConocoPhillips is working to extract natural gas from ice.
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Is frozen natural gas the future of energy? "Shale has the spotlight for now. But there's another, lesser-known substance with the potential to yield even greater quantities of natural gas: methane hydrate. + Hydrates consist of a lattice-like structure of frozen water molecules and methane. On the surface, they look like an ordinary block of ice. But when you hold a match to them, they burn--a visual cue signaling methane release...EIA also reports that these ice-like structures could hold anywhere from 10,000 trillion to more than 100,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas." Clare Foran in NationalJournal and Quartz.