A Chinese research team has indeed cracked the hydrates energy puzzle.On August 19, 2025, the marine clean - energy innovation team at Hainan University published a research achievement in the journal *Nature Communications*. They developed a new catalytic system that can convert methane into methanol with a selectivity of nearly 100% under mild conditions. This breakthrough can potentially enable the commercial utilization of vast natural gas hydrate reserves in the South China Sea.The method uses a nanoscale palladium catalyst and can achieve a 99.7% conversion rate at a temperature of 70°C. Unlike traditional industrial processes that require temperatures above 800°C and high pressure, and often burn methane into wasted carbon dioxide, the new system operates efficiently near room temperature. The key to this technology lies in the precise engineering of the catalyst's surface structure, which allows the catalyst to activate methane and immediately release methanol before it is over - oxidized.
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