日本成世界首个掌握可燃冰甲烷提取技术国

　　Japan has pinned hopes on undersea deposits of methane¹ hydrates, as a means to prevent a looming² energy crisis.

　　On Tuesday, a team aboard a drilling ship successfully extracted gas from a layer of methane hydrates 300 meters below the seabed in the Easter Nankai Trough. Japan currently imports nearly all of its oil and natural gas, with wind and solar energy still in early stages of development.

　　The Japanese government says that it is still five years away from being able to commercialize natural gas from methane hydrates.

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望