

Before we get too excited here, let's remember. There's still an energy problem. Global warming, too. Nobody's going to be importing oil substitutes from Titan anytime soon.

That said, data from the Cassini probe orbiting Saturn has shown that the ringed planet's moon has "hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth," according to research reported in the Geophysical Research Letters. The stuff is literally falling from the sky.

Lakes are scattered across the moon, with each of several dozen holding more hydrocarbon liquid – largely in the form of methane and ethane – than all of Earth's oil and gas reserves.

"Titan is just covered in carbon-bearing material – it's a giant factory of organic chemicals," said (Johns Hopkins University physicist, and Cassini radar team member Ralph) Lorenz. "This vast carbon inventory is an important window into the geology and climate history of Titan."

Naturally, there's a greenhouse effect involved (just remember that before you get too excited about new reserves of burnable organics). As methane escapes into the moon's atmosphere, it breaks down and escapes into space – but meanwhile, it's keeping the surface of the moon at a comparatively comfortable negative 290 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists are more interested in seeing how far an environment like that can progress in producing the complex carbon molecules that ultimately lead to life, however.

"We are carbon-based life, and understanding how far along the chain of complexity towards life that chemistry can go in an environment like

Titan will be important in understanding the origins of life throughout the universe," added Lorenz.

The Cassini probe's next Titan flyby will be on Feb. 22.

Titan's surface organics surpass oil reserves on Earth [ESA]

Image: A smog-shrouded Titan, as seen by Cassini behind Saturn's rings.

The small moon Epimetheus hangs over the rings. The color in the image was overlaid on a black-and-white image, to approximate what how the scene would look to our eyes. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute )