Recently Japanese marine scientists made headlines when they announced a technological breakthrough in the extraction of Methane Hydrates from the ocean. Methane Hydrate is a mixture of natural gas and water that becomes solid in cold , high pressure conditions in deep ocean floors.These Methane Hydrates are a promising new energy source for Japan as extraction of gas from this frozen source can reap huge benefits for an energy starved nation. JOGMEC (Japan Oil Gas and Metals National Corporation) has even tentatively targeted 2019 as the year in which they commercialize this operation. Methane Hydrates or 'fire from ice' as it is popularly known has been found off the sea of Japan.

Worldwide these deposits are found in a whole lot of places and they have potentially 35 % more natural gas than other reserves. If Japan is successful it will have a supply of gas lasting the country for a 100 years. For Japan and for the rest of the world Methane Hydrates are a promising new energy source. The US  and China have major programmes for exploration and experimental extraction of the gas with the US funding 14 projects in Alaska. 

India is known to have massive deposits of Methane Hydrate estimated to be nearly 1890 trillion cu.m. In 2006, an Indo-US scientific venture found deposits of Methane Hydrates in four regions in India -the Konkan-Kerala basin, the Krishna Godavari basin, The Mahanadi Basin and the sea off the coast of the Andamans. Some of these reserves are said to be the richest in the world.

Way back in the 1970 when this discovery was made China and India along with Korea and Taiwan were on an economic fast track and this discovery came as a boon for the developing nations. Sadly, India is now nowhere in the picture. Despite having such rich reserves of Methane,  India is bound by the formidable economic and environmental challenges to exploit this resource. Industry guess estimates that the initial cost itself would be difficult to surmount add to that the fact that India does not have a National policy for this purpose in place yet. Also there is no research based marine expedition programme on the horizon in the near future. 

India needs to develop its own technologies for exploration and extraction of the Methane Hydrate. It needs an R& D centre where research can be carried out successfully. Borrowing technology from the west will not suffice as the Hydrate reserves in India have been found in fractured shales and not in sandstone as it is in Japan or the USA. The environmental issue will also have to be tackled as Methane is a greenhouse gas and its extraction will have repercussions on the planet. Attitudes and policies need to be addressed and the government has to initiate the change.