But today Professor Andy Cooper and his team of chemists at the University of Liverpool in England are figuring out how it can help energy companies like BP or Shell store and transport methane gas, the principle component of natural gas.

FORBES: What Is Dry Water?

Methane is the principal component of natural gas, and massive amounts of it are trapped in reservoirs beneath the sea floor and under a layer of the ice-like substance.

FORBES

Methane is the main component of natural gas.

NPR: EPA Methane Report Further Divides Fracking Camps

Cummins is leading global manufacturer of diesel and natural gas engines, engine-related component products, and electric power generation systems.

FORBES: CMI Ready To Rev Higher

It had the good fortune over the past year of seeing the price of ethylene, a basic component for plastics that is derived from oil and natural gas, rise 35% to 55 cents a pound.

FORBES: Magazine Article

CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled at high concentrations by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere's life cycle.

WSJ: Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming

When working, it splits light into its component colours, to reveal information about the chemical content, temperature and motion of planets, comets, stars, interstellar gas and galaxies.

BBC: Brute force helps Hubble renewal