Energy crisis postponed as new gas rescues the world

Uk Telegraph ^ | 10/11/2009 | Ambrose Evans- Pritchard

[crescen7]

America is not going to bleed its wealth importing fuel. Russia's grip on Europe's gas will weaken. Improvident Britain may avoid paralysing blackouts by mid-decade after all.

The World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires last week was one of those events that shatter assumptions. Advances in technology for extracting gas from shale and methane beds have quickened dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected.

Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said proven natural gas reserves around the world have risen to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil equivalent, enough for 60 years' supply – and rising fast.

"There has been a revolution in the gas fields of North America. Reserve estimates are rising sharply as technology unlocks unconventional resources," he said.

This is almost unknown to the public, despite the efforts of Nick Grealy at "No Hot Air" who has been arguing for some time that Britain's shale reserves could replace declining North Sea output.

[thackney]

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is far more reasonable to use as a fuel for most vehicles than LNG.

The natural gas is used as fuel for vehicles today, it just is not very common.

You can purchase a compression unit to fuel a CNG vehicle at your home and CNG is available in limited areas.

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/natural_gas.html

[SFConservative]

The liberals don’t WANT to solve the energy crisis. They see it as a means to empty exurbs back into the cities, where we can all live in mass transit nirvana.

... and where the high density makes it much easier to monitor and control our individual behavior.

[SFConservative]

Isn't that the amount of that gooy water absorbing carp that adulterates all gasoline?

Oh man, so now they've secretly been adding fish to our gasoline? Geez, what's next?

[TheMole]

Surge in Natural Gas Has Utah Driving Cheaply

[Smokin' Joe]

They see it as a means to empty exurbs back into the cities...

where people are a lot easier to control...

[Smokin' Joe]

Then again, all of those global warming fables going around being f*rted around (er, being freed) by the democrats (er, socialist-liberals) might prove to be a power supply in themselves....

The day may yet come when people keep warm in the ruins by burning books...

[Smokin' Joe]

Liberal Democrats in the PA. State Senate just killed an attempt to lease gas drilling on state lands.

If PA is suffering any kind of a budget crisis, it might be a good thing to remind the voters that the State Senate just screwed the people of the Commonwealth out of all the royalty money which would have accrued to the public coffers (by convention, one eighth of production).

[Smokin' Joe]

...liquid nitrogen (-196 °C), copious amounts of which I’ve used in an earlier line of work and Linde delivered to our lab by the truckload

You can vent the liquid N2 to atmosphere without any real danger, but you can't do that with LNG.

[Smokin' Joe]

Oh man, so now they've secretly been adding fish to our gasoline? Geez, what's next?

Lutefisk power!

[norraad]

I used to be embarrassed by spelling mistakes, now I know it only leads to comic relief and has become a freeper tradition.

[Moltke]

Yes, gas-tight storage would certainly be necessary.

[Is2C]

ping