Re:China claims breakthrough in mining 'flammable ice'
by nullnilvoid on Friday May 19, 2017 @12:52PM
(#14377416)
That is a valid concern. However, clathrates (mostly CH4) is actually much cleaner than coal, by far the biggest source of energy in China. If China can replace coal with clathrates, it would be an huge improvement for the environment.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:China claims breakthrough in mining 'flammable ice'
by spenrose on Friday May 19, 2017 @01:05PM
(#14377540)
China is already replacing coal with renewables and nuclear. It doesn't need a new source of CO2.
Re:China claims breakthrough in mining 'flammable ice'
by TheSpiceIsLife on Friday May 19, 2017 @03:22PM
(#14378651)
China is still building new coal. "65GW of new coal-fired units had started construction between January 2016 and January 2017, down 62% on the 170GW the year before. Most coal power stations are around 1GW or greater in capacity."
Consider that those coal plants could run for 40 years[3], it's probably better if those new plants were CCGT[2] rather than coal.
1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/22/coal-pow...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_cycle
3. https://qz.com/61423/coal-fired-power-plants-near-retirement...