So, here’s the choice.
A) We can use the unexpected natural gas bounty of the United States to significantly reduce the use of coal to generate electricity, significantly shrinking our carbon footprint.
Or,
B) We can use the gas for transportation, somewhat reducing air emissions while drastically cutting our cash exports to all the warlords, princes and dictators profiting from US oil consumption.
Even three years ago, the options might have seemed outlandish. At that time, US natural gas production was in decline and most experts believed the downturn was permanent. But, thanks to new drilling technology, it turns out the US is home to enormous new gas reserves, setting the stage for major policy debates about the best ways we might use the relatively clean burning fuel.
The gas boom is usually lost in the shuffle on the cable news shows, but it was recently the subject of an excellent overview in the Wall Street Journal. That story can be found here. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104549891270585.html
The new drilling technique is called hydraulic fracturing and it’s a process in which huge shots of water are injected deep into shale formations up to 10,000 feet deep. The injections crack the rock and free up the natural gas trapped inside. Fracturing is also supported by new rigs capable of horizontal drilling, which taps gas throughout the shale formations, instead of simply poking into and through them.
Sounds simple enough, but the results are amazing. US natural gas production increased more than 10% over the past two years and there’s way more from where that gas came from.
One new field in Louisiana holds 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. That would translate to 33 billion barrels of oil. That’s nearly three times the amount of the oil found at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. Looked at another way, thirty-three billion barrels of oil would meet US oil needs for nearly 20 years.
Additional reserves are also now within reach at vast, deep fields in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Mainstream industry experts believe these fields possess more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet of gas and they say that’s enough to meet all US gas needs for the next 100 years.
Near term, the rise in gas supply has swamped demand and depressed natural gas prices. Long term, it means natural gas will most likely serve as the bridge fuel that will help us get through the next few decades while new fuel resources are brought on line.
A US fossil fuel boom in the 21st Century? Who would have thunk it. Well, as it turns out, Dick Cheney is among those who did.
The former vice president is credited and/or discredited with securing an exemption a few years ago that permitted fracturing to proceed free from the constraints normally imposed by US clean water regulations. This came in handy because fracturing uses lots of water, sand and some chemicals to break open the shale. The exemption triggered the first controversy of the new gas era.
Some members of Congress want to repeal the exemption because of concerns about the potential dangers posed to water resources by the fracturing process. Bloggers have of course joined the fray, identifying cow kills and animal birth defects that may be, could be, or might be linked to the chemicals used in fracturing, which is pretty amazing given the short period of time that fracturing has been used.
But, so it goes. In addition to generating environmental concerns, Congressional inquiries, lawsuits and blogs, the resurgent gas industry will generate trillions of dollars for US energy companies and workers along with major demand for all the sophisticated equipment, supplies and systems that must be built to fracture, extract, move and process the gas. And it will all come with major environmental benefits. Is this a great country, or what?
Many electric utilities are already voting with their wallets, inspired by the growing gas supplies, the prospect of lower gas prices and the threat of new carbon fees.
According to the Energy Information Administration, 206 gas fired electrical generating plants are planned for construction throughout in the US over the next three years. Over the same period, just 31 new plants will be built powered by coal.
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