Could methane hydrate solve Tokyo's energy crisis?

After 10 years of research, Japanese engineers have extracted offshore methane hydrate from beneath the ocean floor. The substance, more commonly called flammable ice, is a great hope for the future of Japan, which desperately lacks energy since almost all of its nuclear reactors remain shut after the Fukushima disaster. France 24 asks if methane hydrates will solve the energy puzzle for Japan, or even the world.