International Standards for Fire Ice will be Established Soon
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs says that it discussed the establishment of standards for NGH carrying vessel's structure and facility technology at the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases, 14th Session, held in London from Feb. 8 to 12, and will complete a final draft of standards by 2011.
As Natural Gas Hydrate is becoming one of future clean energy resources that create fierce competition in the world especially in the U.S., Canada, Japan and India, the meeting also gained much attention.
The MSC first raised need to develop safety standards on NGH carrying vessels in August 2006, and it was discussed in the IMO.
NGH, which is also called "fire ice", is one of natural gases that falls under flammable gases (Class 2.1) according to the IMDG Code. NGH carrying vessels should have gas leakage monitoring devices or hydrostats to secure safety transportation.
Accordingly, the IMO decided to develop guidelines for inspection and evaluation on vessel safety and loading & unloading facility by 2011.
Oil and natural gases are expected to be depleted 40 or 60 years from now but NGH is buried under earth at about 10 trillion tons. Korea also has about 600 million tons of NGH under the East Sea which is equivalent to 30 years of Korea's natural gas consumption and 150 trillion won.
Given the fact that NGH emits less CO2 and other pollutants such as NOx, it will greatly contribute to both tackling climate change and securing energy, and ultimately to achieving low carbon green growth.
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