"What If We Never Run Out of Oil?"

"New technology and a little-known energy source suggest that fossil fuels may not be finite. This would be a miracle—and a nightmare."

In the 1970s, geologists discovered crystalline natural gas—methane hydrate, in the jargon—beneath the seafloor. Stored mostly in broad, shallow layers on continental margins, methane hydrate exists in immense quantities; by some estimates, it is twice as abundant as all other fossil fuels combined....