Obama seeks new fossil fuel source: methane hydrates

President Obama, in another move this week to boost fossil fuel energy embraced by his GOP rival Mitt Romney, announced research funding Friday for a new source of natural gas -- methane hydrates.

Describing it as the "world's largest untapped fossil energy resource," his Department of Energy awarded 13 research projects across 11 states to help develop methane hydrates. DOE says these 3D ice-lattice structures, when melted, turn to liquid water and release methane molecules as gas. It says they're found onshore and offshore, in ocean sediments worldwide.

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The announcement comes as the Republican National Convention concludes in Tampa, Fla., after nominating Romney as its GOP presidential candidate. The former Massachusetts governor has called for policies that would do more to boost the production of fossil fuel sources -- coal, oil and gas -- than renewable energy.

During the GOP convention this week, the Obama administration sought to showcase its own "all of the above" energy agenda. The Department of Interior gave oil company Shell permission to do limited, experimental drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. The Environmental Protection Agency finalized rules to nearly double the fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks -- to 54.5 miles per gallon -- by 2025.

On Friday, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said the new research into methane hydrates, while still in its early stages, could "potentially yield significant new supplies of natural gas and further expand U.S. energy supplies." He said DOE's shale gas research during the 70s and 80s helped pave the way for the current boom in natural gas production.

The grants follow the completion, in April, of a successful, unprecedented attempt to extract natural gas from methane hydrates on the North Slope of Alaska. DOE had partnered with ConocoPhillips and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation on the testing.

DOE's research recipients include:

1. University of California at San Diego (San Diego, Calif.)
2. University of Mississippi (Oxford, Miss.)
3. University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.)
4. Oregon State University (Corvallis, Ore.)
5. Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas)
6. University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas)
7. Colorado School of Mines (Golden, Colo.)
8. Georgia Tech Research Corporation (Atlanta, Ga.)
9. Wayne State University (Detroit, Mich.)
10. Consortium for Ocean Leadership (Washington, D.C.)
11. Fugro GeoConsulting, Inc. (Houston, Texas)
12. Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)
13. Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)