Wonderfuel

Wonderfuel: Welcome to the age of unconventional gas

The above titled article in the New Scientist sings the praises of natural gas as abundant source of clean, cheap energy versus coal (too dirty), nuclear power (too expensive and controversial) and renewables, (too unpredictable).

Helen Knight, clean technology correspondent for the New Scientist, writes that new technology to extract natural gas from unconventional deposits trapped in impermeable hard rock or sandstone, within coal seams, or in shale deposits, means that previously gas-poor countries in the Americas, Asia and western Europe could have enough cheap gas to last for another 100 years at present rates of consumption.

US had until recently, been preparing for a decline in its domestic gas supply by looking to import LNG.  Shale gas may now potentially provide 100 years of gas domestic resources.

If the US experience is replicated throughout the world, it could transform the energy outlook. At present, around 60 per cent of US gas is produced from unconventional sources.

"It is the dominant source of gas production in the US, will become that in Canada in the next 10 years, and has the potential to become that in the rest of the world in 20 to 30 years," says Vello Kuuskraa, president of Advanced Resources International, an energy industry consultancy based in Washington DC.

The article provides a good overview of present natural gas usage, the evolution of shale gas technology and the processes involved in shale gas extraction.

Highly recommended reading for all interested in unconventional gas and shale gas in particular.

Read the Full Article