????這是一種在2.75億年前摧毀了地球上大量生命的氣體。現在，日本卻宣揚它是世界下一個非常規能源供應。

????這種新型潛在燃料俗稱可燃冰或籠形化合物，是一種果子露狀的物質，由被困在水冰中的甲烷構成。乍看起來，它非常像冰，通常藏匿在略低于大陸架外的海床下面。

????日本的計算顯示，作為一個資源貧瘠的國家，日本在其海岸線之外擁有巨額的甲烷水合物儲量，足以滿足這個經濟超級大國在未來100年的能源需求。這種冷凍氣體也普遍存在于地球其他地區。一項估計聲稱，它能夠提供的能源比全世界目前已知天然氣和石油儲量的總和還要多。

????正在引領這項能源開發嘗試的日本政府表示：“日本的初始研究區域是綿延400公里（從東京至日本本州島西端）的沿海區域。我們認為，僅這個地區的儲量就足以為日本全國供應近14年的天然氣。”

????今年三月份，為日本政府工作的研究人選率先從海底的甲烷水合物中提取天然氣。提取這種氣體面臨巨大的技術障礙——因為它常常深藏于海平面之下，難以獲取。一些人認為，這些資源永遠也無法實現商業應用。

????東京方面開始瞄準水力壓裂法在20世紀90年代所面臨的挑戰，并隨即聲稱，類似的技術進步將使得從甲烷水合物中獲取能源成為可能。鑒于日本自身的自然資源貧瘠，核電計劃受阻，再加上可再生能源寥寥無幾，日本希望甲烷水合物能夠使該國擺脫能源依賴癥。

????根據過去一年收集的數據，并于上周發布的經修訂估算顯示，日本海(Sea of Japan)海底儲藏有大量甲烷水合物。日本官員表示，由于這些水合物靠近海床表面，它們比大多數天然氣資源更容易獲取。據說，沿著地質斷層線可收集甲烷水合物，而日本則坐落于世界三大甲烷水合物儲藏的匯聚之處。

????“對于日本來說，甲烷水合物可能會成為一項重要的能源來源，因為在全球已知或探明的資源中，有相當大一部分位于日本周圍，”日本歐洲技術公司(Eurotechnology Japan)的能源技術分析師格哈德?法索爾說。

????對于制造業產出數據近期獲得提振的日本公司來說，這是一個好消息。由于幾乎所有的核電站都停止運營，東京正在用進口的化石燃料，尤其是丙烷氣，支撐日本經濟最近一波迷你繁榮。每百萬英熱單位16美元的價格（美國的價格大約為3.50美元），已被證明是非常昂貴的，特別是在日元購買力近期下降，貿易赤字不斷膨脹的大背景下。

????It's a gas that wiped out much of life on Earth 275 million years ago, and Japan is now touting it as the world's next unconventional energy supply.

????Known as inflammable ice, or clathrates, the new potential fuel is a sherbet-like substance consisting of methane trapped in water ice. To the eye, it looks remarkably like ice and typically resides just below the seabed off our continental shelves.

????Japanese calculations suggests the resources-poor country has enough supply just off its coasts to meet the economic superpower's energy needs for the next 100 years. The frozen gas is also prevalent in other parts of the globe and can provide more energy than all the world's known gas and oil reserves combined, according to one estimate.

????"The initial area of study in Japan was the coastal region stretching 400 km (from Tokyo to the western tip of Japan's Honshu island). This region alone is thought to hold enough reserves to supply all of Japan with natural gas for nearly 14 years," says the Japanese government, which is leading the trials.

????Japanese researchers working for the government were the first to tap natural gas from seabed methane hydrates this March. Massive technological hurdles stand in the way of extracting the gas, which is difficult to access, as it is often deep below sea level. Some say these resources will never be commercially applicable.

????Tokyo points to the challenges of fracking in the 1990s and says similar technological advances will make energy from methane hydrate a possibility. With few natural resources of its own, a stalled nuclear power program, and little in the way of renewables, Japan is hoping methane clathrate can save it from energy dependency.

????Revised estimates, based on data collected over the last year and released last week, say there are massive deposits of methane hydrate below the Sea of Japan. These will be easier to reach than most gas deposits as they are located close to the seabed surface, officials say. Methane hydrates are believed to collect along geological fault lines, and Japan sits atop a nexus of three of the world's largest deposits.

????"Methane hydrate could become an important energy source for Japan, because a substantial part of the known or proven resources globally are around Japan," says energy technology analyst Gerhard Fasol of Eurotechnology Japan.

????Good news for Japan Inc., which showed boosted figures for manufacturing output recently. With nearly all nuclear power stations offline, Tokyo is fueling its mini boom with imported fossil fuels, particularly propane gas. At $16 per million metric units, compared to around $3.50 in the U.S., this has proven to be very expensive, particularly in light of the recent fall in the yen's purchasing power and a ballooning trade deficit.