China taps into "flammable ice"

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China has made a breakthrough in digging up natural gas hydrate in permafrost at Qinghai province. That makes it the third country in the world to successfully unearth this new source of energy on land.

Nicknamed "flammable ice", gas hydrates are crystalline solids made of gas and water. A single cubic meter can be converted into 200 cubic meters of gas under the right conditions. Natural gas hydrates have attracted international research in recent decades. Scientists believe it is an ideal alternative to oil and gas.

Huge levels of gas hydrates have been discovered in the South China Sea, but have proven too difficult to excavate. But the task has been easier in Qinghai plateau, with the gas hydrates located between 130-270 meters below the surface of the earth.