Research On The Risk Management Mechanism For The Development Of Methane Hydrates In China

The energy issue is a fundamental issue concerning the national economy and people's livelihood of a country.It is also a tough matter nowadays with the crisis of traditional energy exhaustion.China is a country heavily dependent on energy imports.To secure energy supply,it should not only seek energy cooperation with other countries,but also explore and develop new energy sources.The discovery of methane hydrates definitely brought good news to China's energy future.In view of the abundant reserves and the"clean"nature of methane hydrates,and developing methane hydrates is technologically feasible in China,its commercial development will definitely happen in the near future.However,the development of methane hydrates could bring about serious consequences,catastrophic or non-catastrophic,which may have a significant negative impact on climate change and even endanger the safety of the entire ecosystem.Therefore,it is worthwhile to study and construct the risk management mechanism for the development of methane hydrates before its commercial mining begins.The first chapter clarifies the characteristics of methane hydrates,elaborating the specific energy problems that the methane hydrates development could deal with and the risks and hazards that may arise during its development.It is thus necessary to manage and control all kinds of risks and hazards before and during the development of methane hydrates.The second chapter explores the legal tools that can be used to manage the environmental risks of the development of methane hydrates.The first section analyzes the necessity of public regulation on the development of methane hydrates,the advantages of public regulation in managing environmental risks of the development of methane hydrates and the available methods of public regulation on the development of methane hydrates;the second section elaborates the role of enterprise's self-management in managing the risk of methane hydrates' development;the third section introduces that the rule of strict liability and negligence can be used to manage environmental risks of different activities,and after analyzing the features of the development of methane hydrates,it is concluded that strict liability should be used for the management and control of the risks and hazards that may be brought about by the development of methane hydrates.The third chapter reviews the existing laws of China and analyzes the rules that might be applied to the environmental risk management of the development of methane hydrates,which may provide the legal basis for the public regulation,the legal basis for the enterprise's environmental risk self-management and the legal basis for applying the strict liability for the infringement in the process of the development of methane hydrates.The fourth chapter states the shortcomings of China's existing laws in dealing with the risks of the development of methane hydrates.To be specific,the current public regulation legal basis cannot manage the risks of the development of methane hydrates effectively,China's current environmental risk management path deviates from the needs of methane hydrates environmental risk management,the functions of environmental protection administrative regulatory overlaps and the application of strict liability in the risk management of the development of methane hydrates under the existing legal framework may face various problems.The fifth chapter puts forward suggestions for promoting the environmental risk management mechanism of the development of methane hydrates.First and foremost,the public regulation mechanism should be improved,specific means include the improvement of existing legislation,the enactment of special legislation on the development of methane hydrates and the establishment of an independent methane hydrates'risk management agency.Second,it discusses the improvement of the enterprise's self-environmental risk management;Third,it puts forward suggestions on the improvement of the legal provisions of environmental civil liability and clarifies the litigation mechanisms that can be used for the environmental risk management in the process of developing methane hydrates.