Combustible ice is a crystallized solid created during the interaction between methane and water in a high-pressure, low-temperature environment. It is normally found in continental slope areas and beneath high-latitude permafrost. The total organic carbon reserve in combustible ice is estimated to be two times that contained in today’s known coal, oil, and natural gas reserves, and the resource has the potential to supply thousands of years of human energy needs.

China’s soaring energy demand in recent years, coupled with its relatively poor oil and natural gas reserves, have forced the country to accelerate research and development of potential new energy sources. To date, China has discovered combustible ice reserves in the northern continental slope and Nansha Trough areas of the South China Sea, and the continental slopes in the East China Sea. In mid-2005, a joint Chinese-German expedition located a combustible ice sink covering 430 square kilometers, the largest of its kind in the world, in the northern continental slopes of the South China Sea. The total energy content of the Sea’s combustible ice reserves alone accounts for half of China’s total onshore oil and natural gas reserves, according to China Business Post.

Initial explorations of combustible ice are being carried out jointly by the Ministry of Land and Resources and China National Offshore Oil Corp., an energy giant with expertise in offshore crude oil and natural gas exploration and production.

Though China’s combustible ice reserves are large, experts believe that production of the resource will only be commercially viable in the wake of further technical breakthroughs. Chen Guangjin, a professor at the China University of Petroleum, told Market News that the current cost of the ice is as high as $200 per cubic meter. With the energy released by each cubic meter of combustible ice equal to roughly 180 cubic meters of natural gas, the cost would be equivalent to more than $1 per cubic meter of natural gas. This far exceeds China’s current cost of natural gas production of $0.125 per cubic meter.

Significant environmental concerns also loom. Combustible ice’s content of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is as high as 80–99.9 percent. Although it leaves little residue after burning, the ice is difficult to extract and transport due to its unstable nature and location in seabeds. Inappropriate extraction methods could release the methane contained in the hydrates into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Scientists also warn that undersea exploration could induce geological disasters such as tsunamis and coastal landslides, wreaking havoc on neighboring areas.