Photo: World’s new fuel?

In this undated handout photo, a frozen gas hydrate is being lit with a match. Hydrates occur in vast quantities under the oceans and permafrost, where tremendous pressure traps methane gas in tiny cages made of water molecules. When brought to the surface, the cages melt releasing the gas that burns if lit with a match generating “fiery ice.” Canadian and Japanese scientists will present tantalizing evidence in Tokyo this week that frozen gas hydrates may live up to their billing as a plentiful new energy source. The team will describe how they got hydrates, under the Arctic permafrost, to generated a steady flow of gas for six days, fueling a flame in the Arctic darkness, before the team declared success and shut down the gas well they drilled in the Mackenzie Delta. (PHOTO/GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA)