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Isn\’t it wonderful when a Zoologist does Physics?

George Monbiot:

Clathrates are composed of a frozen matrix of water and gas, whose texture is rather like a sorbet. They are super-concentrated: a cubic metre of clathrate contains 164 times as much methane as a cubic metre of methane gas.

Err, yes.

You\’ll normally find that solids are denser than gases, yes.

11 thoughts on “Isn\’t it wonderful when a Zoologist does Physics?”

  1. So Much For Subtlety

    Japan is adding to the mountain of fossil fuels we cannot responsibly burn

    It is nice to see George admitting Peak Oil is not a problem and in fact we have a hell of a lot of fossil fuels to burn. But that always was the problem – the Greens need Global Warming otherwise they have no justification for sending us back into the Dark Ages. And not the nice sort that gave us Chartes. The sort that Pol Pot tried.

  2. I’m not sure what your point is here. I doubt Monbiot is unaware that in general solids are denser than gases, he is just making it clear to the reader the extent to which the volume of methane trapped in the ground translates to a particular volume in the atmosphere. It smacks of desperately trying to find fault with the article just for the sake fo it.

  3. I’ve never read Monbiot of the loss-making Guardian before.

    “Japan’s ‘frozen gas’ is worthless if we take climate change seriously”

    Bollocks. Clathrates are going to be a fabulous resource if we (I live in Japan) can exploit them commercially.

    Monbiot, what a prize cunt you are. Why don’t you fuck off back to your Welsh cave, part of the UK museum you wish to create. Get the fuck out of the lives of us who want a better future.

  4. Dennis The Peasant

    I believe what he is doing is chemistry, not physics. Either way his grasp of the obvious is impressive.

  5. Andrew Adams,

    So when he uses the phrase “super-concentrated” to describe the properties of a solid, you think he is not expressing his own amazement, but anticipating the amazement of Guardian readers?

    Yes, that does make sense.

  6. Monbiot is saying that it doesn’t matter how much energy we consume, what matters is how much fossil fuel some bureaucrat declares to be “off-limits”.
    So JuliaM is right.
    If you are worried about global warming, cut down on energy consumption that converts anything, but anything, into heat (including bonfires to burn garden rubbish, but particularly central heating, using Volvos and other wasteful cars when public transport is available, air conditioning – if Dubai can have cooling systems that don’t consume MWH, why can’t we, floodlights, gymnasia and running machines for pseuds who drive to work, etc etc)

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