Here’s another article about the likely expansion in unconventional gas production in North America. This one mentions US shale gas deposits which are going to lead to a 16 percent increase in US gas production by 2015, they say. Apparently, the existence of North American shale gas deposits is helping to keep natural gas prices low even when the oil price sky-rockets.
Natural gas could play a big role in the energy system of the future and this can only be good news when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Production technologies such as gas-to-liquids mean that it could become a viable substitute to petroleum. Carbon capture and storage technology and the possibility of electricity being used widely in plug-in electric vehicles could mean a near-zero emission transportation system. All this depends on the extent of the unconventional resource deposits and the rate of technological progress in their extraction and conversion. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said recently “…you can have a transition with natural gas that is cheap, abundant and clean compared to fossil fuels”. See also my previous post about unconventional gas in Northern BC.
