Strategic Research Priorities and Directions

Formidable technical challenges exist in achieving the countermeasures envisioned for chemical and biological (CB) defense by 2030 projected in Chap. 3 and to enable countermeasures against the type of threats described in Chap. 4. Real scientific breakthroughs will be needed at a fundamental level in order to realize these revolutionary countermeasures in physical protection, detection and diagnostics, decontamination, and medical applications. Much of the research required for this broad strategy must be aimed at new scientific discovery versus research aimed at development of a specific application. 

Hurdles and bottlenecks are to be expected in any area of discovery-based research. To achieve this level of progress, researchers cannot rely on mock sys- 

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Unlike oil, natural gas and its main components—light (C1-C4) alkanes— are much more abundant. The existing estimates of their assured resources in traditional gas fields are much more optimistic as compared to oil resources. Moreover, the Earth s mantle permanently releases additional amounts of methane, and its resources in the form of gas hydrates are estimated as more than a half of the organic carbon in the Earth s crust (Kvenvolden, 1988). The development of these giant resources becomes the strategic goal of the world economy and accordingly one of the priority directions in scientific research— both fundamental and applied (Melvin, 1988). 

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