---------------------------------------------------------------------- --
  **2004 Current FY Report: Review of Federal Advisory Committee**       

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
  1\. Department or Agency              2\. Fiscal Year

  **Department of Energy**              **2004**
  ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------

  --------------------------------------------------------- -------------
  3\. Committee or SubCommittee                             3b. GSA
                                                            Committee No.

  **Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee**                    **10671**
  --------------------------------------------------------- -------------

  ----------------- ----------------- -------------------- ---------------
  4\. Is this New   5\. Current       6\. Expected Renewal 7\. Expected
  During Fiscal     Charter           Date                 Term Date
  Year?                                                    

  **No**            **11/5/2002**     **1/30/2005**        **9/30/2005**
  ----------------- ----------------- -------------------- ---------------

  ----------------- ------------------------------------- ----------------
  8a. Was           8b. Specific Termination Authority    8c.Actual
  Terminated During                                       Termination Date
  FY?                                                     

  **No**            **P.L. 106-193**                      
  ----------------- ------------------------------------- ----------------

  ------------------------ ----------------------- -----------------------
  9\. Agency               10a.Legislation Req to  10b.Legislation
  Recommendation for Next  Terminate?              Pending?
  FY                                               

  **Continue**                                     
  ------------------------ ----------------------- -----------------------

  -------------------- ----------------------- ------------- -------------
  11\. Establishment   **Statutory(Congress                  
  Authority            Created)**                            

  -------------------- ----------------------- ------------- -------------

  ---------------------------- -------------- ---------------- ---------------
  12\. Specific Establishment  13\. Effective 14\. Committee   14c.
  Authority                    Date           Type             Presidential?

  **P.L. 106-193**             **5/2/2000**   **Continuing**   **No**
  ---------------------------- -------------- ---------------- ---------------

  -------------------- ------------------- --------------- ---------------
  15\. Description of  **Scientific                        
  Committee            Technical Program                   
                       Advisory Board**                    

  -------------------- ------------------- --------------- ---------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  16a. Total Number of Reports

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------
  **1**                                

  16b. Report Titles and Dates         
  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------

  ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------
  **Letter to Secretary Abraham**          **9/22/2004 1:41:03 PM**

  ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------

  ---------------------- ------- ---------- ------- ---------------- ------- --------------- -------
  17a Open:              **1**   17b.       **0**   17c. Partially   **0**   17d. Total      **1**
                                 Closed:            Closed:                  Meetings        

  Meeting Purposes and                                                                       
  Dates                                                                                      
  ---------------------- ------- ---------- ------- ---------------- ------- --------------- -------

  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  **Review program progress and       **9/21/2004 9/22/2004**
  National Research Council report.** 

  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------

  --------------------------------------- -------------- ------------------
                                          Current Fiscal Next Fiscal Year
                                          Year           

  18a(1) Personnel Pmts to Non-Federal    **\$0**        **\$0**
  Members                                                

  18a(2) Personnel Pmts to Federal        **\$0**        **\$0**
  Members                                                

  18a(3) Personnel Pmts to Federal Staff  **\$0**        **\$0**

  18a(4) Personnel Pmts to Non-member     **\$0**        **\$0**
  Consultants                                            

  18b(1) Travel and Per Diem to           **\$5,630**    **\$9,000**
  Non-Federal Members                                    

  18b(2) Travel and Per Diem to Federal   **\$8,814**    **\$6,000**
  Members                                                

  18b(3) Travel and Per Diem to Federal   **\$0**        **\$0**
  Staff                                                  

  18b(4) Travel and Per Diem to           **\$0**        **\$0**
  Non-Member Consultants                                 

  18c.Other(rents,user                    **\$0**        **\$2,000**
  charges,graphics,printing,mail etc.)                   

  18d                Total                **\$14,444**   **\$17,000**

  19\. Federal Staff Support Years        **0.2**        **0.2**
  --------------------------------------- -------------- ------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  20a. How does the Committee accomplish its purpose?

  **The committee, which held its first meeting in May 2001, plans to
  meet once a year to review the Department of Energy program and the
  state of the art in hydrates research, and to make recommendations for
  future research directions. In December 2002, the committee delivered a
  Congressional report on the impacts on global climate change from
  methane hydrate formation and degassing and the consumption of natural
  gas produced from methane hydrates. The National Research Council (NRC)
  completed a \"peer review\" of the Federal Methane Hydrate program and
  provided a report to Congress and DOE in September 2004. The advisory
  committee met to discuss the NRC review and recommendations in
  September 2004.**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  20b. How does the Committee balance its membership?

  **Recommendations for new panel members are reviewed within DOE in
  preparation for the Secretary of Energy appointment of a new panel.
  (The current panel membership will expire as specified in the
  authorizing legislation, September 2005). Potential panel members were
  identified by a team of DOE hydrate managers from a list of known
  hydrate researchers and nominations received in response to an email to
  about 40 methane hydrate professionals. The proposed committee
  membership of eleven is geographically distributed and represents
  \"industrial enterprises and institutions of higher education\" as
  required by P.L. 106-193. Representatives of other government agencies
  are not included in the methane hydrate advisory committee because a
  separate high-level interagency coordinating committee assures that DOE
  receives information and advice from other government agencies that are
  involved in hydrate research.**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  20c. How frequent and relevant are the Committee meetings?

  **Estimated Number of Meetings per Year - 1 Advise on future research
  directions is important to maintaining focus in this long-range
  research program. The DOE anticipates structuring its FY2006 research
  to address recommendations coming from the advisory committee.**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  20d. Why can\'t the advice or information this committee provides be
  obtained elsewhere?

  **Methane Hydrates are methane-bearing, ice-like materials that occur
  in abundance in marine and Arctic sediments and store immense amounts
  of methane, natural gas. The U.S. Geological Survey (1995) estimates
  that the volume of methane contained in hydrates is several hundred
  times the estimated conventional natural gas resource in the U.S.
  Methane from hydrates offers the potential for clean, abundant energy
  after 2015 when conventional natural gas resources are expected to be
  declining. However, much multi-disciplinary research and development is
  necessary to turn this potential resource into gas reserves. Hydrates
  also merit study because of their occurrence in areas of conventional
  oil and gas production and transport, where sediment mass movement and
  methane release could be a hazard. Because of the large volume of
  carbon resident in hydrates and the complex interactions of
  methanogenic processes and hydrocarbon seepage to hydrates, their study
  is also significant to global carbon cycle modeling. The Department of
  Energy, Office of Fossil Energy has a \$10 million per year research
  program to: characterize the occurrence of hydrates, develop production
  techniques, define and mitigate safety and seafloor stability issues,
  and understand the role of hydrates in the global carbon cycle. This
  program is coordinated with work by other government agencies,
  including U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Management Service, Naval
  Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
  and the National Science Foundation. The Methane Hydrate Research and
  Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-193) stipulated that the Methane
  Hydrate Advisory Committee be formed to advise the Assistant Secretary
  of Fossil Energy on potential applications of methane hydrate; assist
  in developing recommendations and priorities for the methane hydrate
  research and development program defined in the Act; and submit to
  Congress one or more reports on the anticipated impact on global
  climate change from methane hydrate formation and degassing and the
  consumption of natural gas produced from methane hydrates.**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  20e. Why is it necessary to close and/or partially close committee
  meetings?

  **This committee has not had and does not anticipate any closed
  meetings.**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  21\. Remarks

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Designated Federal Official:  **Mr. Mark R. Maddox Principal Deputy to
  Assistant Secretary, Fossil Energy**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------------------------------------
  Committee       Start           End             Occupation
  Members                                         

  **Brewer, Dr.   **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
  Peter**                                         Institute**

  **Charter, Mr.  **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Environmental Defense**
  Richard**                                       

  **Holditch, Dr. **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Texas A & M University**
  Stephen**                                       

  **Johnson, Dr.  **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Hydrate Energy International**
  Arthur**                                        

  **Jones, Mr.    **9/21/2004**   **9/20/2006**   **ChevronTexaco**
  Emyrs**                                         

  **Kastner, Dr.  **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **University of California, San Diego**
  Miriam**                                        

  **Mahajan, Dr.  **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Brookhaven Nat\'l Lab, Chair Methane
  Devinder**                                      Hydrate Lab Working Group**

  **Millheim, Dr. **9/21/2004**   **9/20/2006**   **Anadarko Petroleum Corporation**
  Keith**                                         

  **Roberts, Dr.  **5/17/2001**   **9/20/2006**   **Louisiana State University**
  Harry**                                         

  **Woolsey, Dr.  **5/17/2004**   **9/20/2006**   **University of Mississippi**
  Robert**                                        
  --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------------------------------------

  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------
  Total Count of Committee Members     **10**

  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------