Greenhouse gas emissions have been steadily increasing the global temperature for the past century. One greenhouse gas, methane, has had increasing emissions due to cattle farming, rice fields and melting permafrost. In particular, permafrost is often composed of methane hydrate, methane gas trapped in frozen water molecule lattices. To combat this foreboding climate change issue as well as investigate a potential large energy source, this technology has devised ways to evaluate the amount of methane gas encaged in methane hydrate. Current methods for investigating structural and physical properties of the earth are unable to distinguish paths and interconnected pours present in methane hydrate. This technology involves boring a hole into the permafrost and measures the dielectrics using attenuation of microwaves between two antennae.
This technology allows for the measurement of the methane content present in methane hydrate, which was previously not accessible. This measurement will shed light on the amount of energy that can be harnessed and/or the amount of methane that could be released into the atmosphere. Additionally, the technology can assess these geological reservoirs' local terrain and slope stability. This technology was used for measurements in Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Patent Pending (WO/2006/031872)
Tech Ventures Reference: IR M04-075