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Transcript for The Future of Energy Gases, segment 09 of 13
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An almost limitless source of methane might be available if one very radical hypothesis proves correct. This idea suggests that natural gas and oil come from materials containing carbon that accumulated during the formation of the planet. According to this theory, combinations of these materials present throughout the Earth migrate upward into the crust where they deposit gas and oil. But geologists generally reject the idea of huge concentrations of methane coming from deep within the Earth. Nevertheless, it has attracted millions of dollars to drill deep test wells into granites in Sweden, rocks that are unlikely to contain organically-derived gas or oil. Small amounts of methane and other hydrocarbons have been found, but their origin is uncertain, and the validity of the hypothesis remains unclear.