The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a Baylor University researcher more than $270,000 to search the Gulf of Mexico for a large source of methane hydrates.

John Dunbar, an associate professor of geology at Baylor, will use a new search method to acquire geophysical data 200 miles off the Gulf Coast to create a map of where methane hydrates are located, how often the gas seeps through to the surface and the volume that is underneath the seabed. The project will take three years to complete, the DOE reports.

"Methane hydrate sources, such as the one in Mississippi Canyon, could provide a major portion of our energy source for the future," Dunbar says.

The DOE also awarded $5.8 million to five other projects.

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