FROZEN HEAT | Volume 2

components of society within the host country/region/com- munity (Munda et al. 1995; Spangenberg and Settele 2010).

might also require the development of new infrastructure (roads, ports, power plants), which could support needed in- frastructure development in the host countries. Companies might also provide direct philanthropic and community-support services, such as health and education services and, possibly, infrastructure to ensure local access and use of the resource. A number of companies currently engaged in oil and gas development are establishing skills- building programs that provide vocational training to local geologists, geophysicists, and environmental scientists, and also support selected students pursuing post-secondary stud- ies in related fields. Industry philanthropy, however, would be case-specific, and the longevity of such activity is unclear.

Benefits from gas hydrate development would depend on a range of factors. States might charge fees, taxes, and royal- ties that could be reinvested locally. Gas hydrate development might provide direct employment opportunities, depending on the degree to which the administration, transport, and technical operations were based locally. Employment could be created directly in industries such as shipping, aviation, warehousing, maintenance, construction, regulation, and monitoring. Indirect employment – for example, in hospi- tality, lodging, and provisioning industries – might result if operations sourced goods and services locally. Operations

Photo: Yannick Beaudoin, GRID-Arendal

A GLOBAL OUTLOOK ON METHANE GAS HYDRATES 89