Technological Recap

As we have seen over the past weeks, Natural Gas has the versatility and ability to answer all of our energy needs. This versatility stems from the high efficiencies of its energy production. As I spoke about in my 2nd blog post, “Natural Gas Powering Industry” the ability to compress and cool Natural Gas gives a huge increase in molecular components to store additional energy by forming more bonds. Through this storage we gain a higher amount of energy extraction when we combust the same amount of Natural Gas.

With all of these substantial benefits, countries have begun exploration of their own Natural Gas Resources. There is a large consensus in the world that Natural Gas should be used and it will provide many countries a higher level of energy independence. However, with relatively no exports between countries right now (Natural Gas Reserves Around the World Bridging Future and Current Energy Sources) the world must undertake a substantial amount of development in order for this resource to become as wide spread and interchanged as oil.

Within the next few decades, it is detrimental that we find a new energy source. With the combination of climate change, depletion of resources and the volatility of the countries we import oil from, the current and future economy cannot be supported by the current system.

Thats not to say Natural Gas has no issues. There aspects of its production need to be addressed, however if we implement the right regulation and the right strategies we can begin taking steps towards a cleaner world.

I await a period that is powered by all renewable sources of energy and a time that we can begin to turn back the effects of climate change. However, we have to be realistic about the time and amount of money developing these resources will take. As we implement development we must have an energy source to sustain us.  If we must pick from what our current system have now or a system that can power more homes, cities and nations, cheaper, more effectively and cleaner why would we not take this option.

It is now up to you all, you are the voice of our nation and you will be the ones to make the decision on this resource as key elections and votes are undertaken in the coming years. Use your new found knowledge and make the judgement you best see fit.

Remember that at the end of the day we must power our society and all paths will have large costs and benefits.

The choice is up to you.

Natural Gas Reserves Around the World Bridging Future and Current Energy Sources

As the info-graphic shows there is a substantial amount of Natural Gas reserves in the world today. As extraction techniques continue to improve and ground penetrating radar allows us to discover new reserves of Natural Gas we see an energy that has many applications and availability for the future.

TEDx had a speaker that provided some evidence of how the further development can impact America. We neither support nor dispute what the presenter has said, but believe it is a lecture worth hearing to further develop the linkage of Natural Gas as a future energy source.

In order for Natural Gas to make a true impact on the world countries must develop their exporting abilities.When exports were plotted on the graph they were so minuscule that they did not even appear compared to their reserves.  This shows how small the interconnection of Natural Gas supplies and demands between world economies. If there is to be a switch over to Natural Gas as a global energy source countries must begin exporting and importing different types of Natural Gas between each other.

This could be of particular benefit to Russia and its economy. As shown in the graph Russia by far has the largest amount of Natural Gas reserves in the world. If it were to harness that immense resource, its exports alone could power the world for  many years.

In comparison the United States has already taken steps towards becoming a net exporter of natural gas. It has begun converting current facilities made for Natural Gas imports and reforming them to be able to fill shipping transports and export Natural Gas.

China has seen the huge benefit Natural Gas provides to the countries that are able to develop it and has begun developing its own Natural Gas reserves. However, China faces many problems in the implementation of its extraction process. Firstly, China has a very different terrain compared to the United States. This difference in terrain has caused a huge a delay in the technology transfer of  the current facking technology developed in America.

In order for the Chinese to access their current reserves of Natural Gas they will need to develop a system allowing them to extract their reserves in an efficient manner and be cost sustaining.

Many United States companies have descended on China forming partnerships to help develop the Chinese’s Natural Gas Reserves. Companies like RMI have begun major developments in China. Hopping that the development of Natural Gas and renewables will help address the growing problems of contamination, pollution and climate change.

As this resource develops further we will see huge economies of scale continue to lower the costs of Natural Gas. Additionally, as renewable energy sources begin to take over the traditional role of fossil fuels natural gas will be able to power solely keep sectors and become much more widely available. While this process of conversion begins to occur, we will be able to give even cheaper energy to the rest of the world that cannot afford the new renewable technologies during their industrialization. This way Natural Gas can be both a bridge fuel for the industrial countries now and then for developing countries in the future.

 

Weekly Recap

On April 1, 2013 five students from the University of Colorado were given the opportunity to start this thenaturalgas ALTERNATIVE blog  to inform our readers about natural gas as an alternative source of energy and to emphasize its driving force behind a more sustainable future.

Throughout the course of this blog we will be discussing the concerns about natural gas based on the principles of its exploration, development, scientific background and environmental impacts, which will all be our main focus points. A few other areas of emphasis may include natural gas as a bridging technology and its transportation networks, natural gas as an automotive fuel, its impact on economic growth and a whole bunch more.

This week, we touched briefly on some major US natural gas companies who have contributed copious amounts to the health care systems, with Cabot Oil and Gas leading the way and many others following in their footsteps. Their contributions provide a positive image for natural gas and are having major impacts on health care.

Another topic discussed this week was about the breakthrough in the development of floating liquefied natural gas and how Shell is leading the charge. Shell has set forth what is known as the Prelude Project, in which shell is poised to be the first company in the world to create a vessel which can extract remote deposits of floating liquefied natural gas.

This post goes hand in hand with the discussion on US exports of natural gas controversies. Both give a nice contrast to the other and provide the readers with both positive examples within natural gas production and the road bumps companies face in this market.

We hope you enjoyed reading the discussions this week and we look forward to providing you with more discussions in the future.