The government said Tuesday it has set out to develop new desalination technology using natural gas hydrate, which could pave the way for cheap fresh water amid rising concerns over water scarcity.

The mechanism entails removing gas from methane hydrate, a crystalline compound consisting of gas molecules surrounded by a cage of water molecules. Hydrate commonly forms during offshore gas drilling when water is condensed in the presence of methane at a high pressure and low temperature.

Desalination is prevalent in regions like the Middle East where oil is rich but water scarcity has long been a problem. But the nascent technology costs up to 50 percent less than existing ones embracing evaporation or reverse osmosis, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

“The gas hydrate method has higher efficiency and economic viability but no country has secured a platform technology,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Test results showed that our technology lowers salinity by 80 percent, far more superior than a U.S. team’s 60 percent.”

Scientists in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East have embarked on research for the method but have yet to adopt it commercially.

As for its development, the ministry said it plans to provide 11 billion won ($9.2 million) to the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, a state-run think tank, over the next five years.

It will also invite corporate participants from the first stage to set up a desalination plant here with a daily capacity of 20 tons by 2015.

Water security has been jeopardizing the livelihoods of many people and animals across the globe as climate change speeds up desertification and growing population and urbanization stoke consumption.

According to the United Nations, nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, or 1.2 billion, live in water-scarce areas and another 1.6 billion face economic water shortage, where countries lack necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers.

The agency also classifies Korea as a water-scarce nation.

Governments have been increasingly crafting strategies in the face of a looming water crisis. Companies are lining up to step into water treatment as a fresh growth engine.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. and Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp. made early steps in that direction, building a spate of desalination plants in the Middle East. In July, LG Electronics joined forces with Japan’s Hitachi Plant Technologies to venture into water treatment.

The ministry projects the global desalination industry to reach 55 trillion won in the coming years.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)