Japanese heavy industries are pushing ahead with technology aimed at lowering costs of natural gas and helping promote greater use of the environmentally friendly energy source.
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. are among the Japanese companies developing commercial uses for natural gas hydrate, a frozen powdery material of high gas concentration.
Natural gas hydrates had previously been considered troublesome as they clog up pipes and cause accidents in pipelines and petrochemical complexes, but a rethink by scientists has caused them to be seen as a useful form of natural gas.