In a Congressionally mandated report released January 29, 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) concluded that the U.S. Department of Energy’s methane hydrate program had been “consistent and effective” in leading a broad-based science and technology development program to investigate naturally occurring gas hydrates.                

NRC’s review of the program, which is administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for the Office of Fossil Energy, compliments “the overall high caliber of the research, the breadth of investigations undertaken, the training of new, highly qualified personnel under the program’s auspices, and ...