The first step to insuring energy independence is to totally trash and dip-six this monstrosity known as Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST, what an apt acronym). The next big source of energy, one that can be harnessed with technology we already have, is the harvest of Methane Hydrate from the ocean floor, where it exists in huge beds at depths greater than 1,500 feet. When brought to the surface and warmed by just a few degrees, the complex matrix of methane and water dissociates, releasing a volume of methane about 160 times that of the Methane Hydrate from whence it came, plus a single volume of water, which returns to the sea. Of course, the release of the Methane Hydrate would have to be done in a containment vessel of some kind, but you clever minds out there can imagineer a suitable apparatus to proceed with this recovery. From that point on, the methane may be treated in a manner exactly like that used to store and transport natural gas. Compress and cool the methane, for transport in a LNG tanker, to ports where it shall be used as either a feedstock for further chemical processes, or released into pipelines to supplement natural gas and distributed to end-point users all over the world.
Using recombinant chemical process, some surprising things may be made out of the methane, like totally sulfur-free Diesel fuel, or other less volatile petroleum fractions. It would not be necessary to tap any petroleum reservoir ever again, once this recovery and harvest of Methane Hydrate becomes a sufficiently large source of energy.
Sounds good, but I am over my head in the processing of this gas. Can anyone take this further? Thanks.