On 25/06/2015 17:04, Jethro_uk wrote:

When I worked at British Gas, a senior colleague was working with Russia
on designing their high-pressure grid (the UK one being the envy of the
world). He reported that their scientists were convinced the crust of the
Earth was supported on a layer of methane ...

Coincidentally I've just watched the old Dr Who series Inferno, which
has a slightly deranged scientist drilling through the crust to find the
gas underneath it. As one might guess, this doesn't go terribly well.