India’s potential gold mine Hydrocarbon | Fusion - WeRIndia

The energy situation in India is in a sort of crisis. The country is not well endowed with natural resources like deposits of oil or gas. There isn’t much of uranium too. As a result, India spends USD 160 billion to import oil and gas just to meet the needs of the huge population of India. On top of that, the needs of the country are ever increasing.

There is something called ‘Frozen crystalline methane deposits’ AKA ‘fire ice’. They are a potential gold mine for India if they can be properly used. The fuel would be clean and the great thing is it is sourced in India. This can help the country get lasting energy security.

It is shocking to know that 85 percent of India’s domestic usage of oil and gas needs imports from other countries. Ratan K Sinha, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, stated that India’s dependency on imports for energy cannot continue forever. Other options need to be found very soon to give the country energy independence.

He added that, like a potential golden solution, there is one hydrocarbon source which remains untapped. There are many rich sources for this hydrocarbon in India. However, there are still many technological challenges of commercially mining it. It is called gas hydrate. It is a solid form of natural gas which occurs at the bottom of the ocean.

Dr S W A Naqvi, director of the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, stated that India needs this hydrocarbon very much. He added that it is pretty much crucial for India to find ways to tap this hydrocarbon goldmine because the country’s exclusive economic zone is richly endowed with gas hydrates. It is estimated that the Gas hydrate resources in India are at 1894 Trillion Cubic Metres (TCM). The hydrocarbon needs desperate attention to vastly improve the country’s energy sector.

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