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Is the gap between rich and power really the issue? 

Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate - sometimes called "flammable ice" - a breakthrough that officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still little-understood energy source.

"Rivers, lakes, wetlands: could water become the world's biggest market?"

In summary- the Japanese have developed the ability to extract a new (well actually it is old, but new type of gas to us) from deep within the ocean seabed.  This not unlike the recent developments with Shale Gas in the United States.  The process is far from perfect yet (and still in its infancy), but given the recent developments, it is likely that the Japanese will invest more into this project in order to fully realize the potential of this energy source.   a couple of points-  This new gas (methane hydrate) would still be considered a fossil fuel, but would burn cleaner than many of Japan's current energy suppliers (coal). Japan's largest supply of energy (nuclear) is under heavy scrutiny lately after the Fukishima disaster- which could be argued as the largest, most far reaching enviornmental disaster in History.  They are trying to move away from relience on nuclear energy which has resulted in a heavy increase on imported fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)- which has had the consequence of driving up energy prices for its citizens and hurting the economy. If this energy source were to work out/pay out- this would bring much needed relief to Japan's "energy crisis" and relience on imported fossil fuels. This extraction of this new type of energy, like Shale Oil and Gas, is likely very very risky and could have calamatious effects on the surrounding enviornment, if in the event a spill/leak where to happen (this gas is deep deep within the ocean seabed.. A leak would be very very hard to stop). Recent developments could mean movement away from Japan's current trend of investing in (and development of) green energies such as wind, solar, and geothermal. The exact properties of undersea hydrates and how they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, given that methane is a greenhouse gas.   So my questions are: Should Japan pursue this course of action (developing this new type of energy)? What happens if

[Submitted by: Paul Christmas] "The following site has a detailed section on freshwater and many other topics. It will be useful for the options section of the IB and in future will develop sections for the core. A key highlight are some of the detailed case studies. However the site is under development and so some section are are not complete. Some food and health case studies are required and the extreme environments sections is still being written. The site will be useful for both students and teachers of IB geography but has not been written exclusively for the IB."