The shift towards natural gas powered vehicles should not be encouraged by any government regulation. This is a tough strategic choice with many pros and cons.
Pros
- The Peak in natural gas is also “around the corner”. There is no point in strategically shifting our transportation sector right into the next peak crisis.
- The price of natural gas is tied to oil and shifting transportation from oil to natural gas will not improve the nation’s security. The unprecedented transfer of wealth to countries that “don’t like us” will continue if we shift to natural gas.
- The natural gas market is global and increasing demand pressure on natural gas will work against all four goals of the energy policy.
- We may be running out of natural gas if we use it in transportation (considering also other uses of natural gas that are more critical). We will need natural gas for other critical applications (such as electricity and chemical industry).
- Use of natural gas for electricity production is expected to grow because of lower pollution, lower level of GHG (compared to coal) and flexibility. Natural gas is a required component to enable stable electricity generation while using renewable sources like solar and wind.
- We need natural gas to replace oil use in industry and maybe for home heating (as a bridge for the next decades).
Cons
- There is good natural gas delivery infrastructure throughout the U.S.
- It is one of the less polluting transportation solutions. Although it is not clean as electricity.
This is not an easy decision and perhaps an exception should be made: Use of natural gas should be encouraged but limited to heavy municipal vehicles. It is a toss-up between natural gas and bio-diesel. The market should play itself out.
North American gas production will be ramped up from conventional and non-conventional sources when natural gas takes a greater role as a transportation fuel substitute for gasoline. As renewable (wind,… Read more »
This statement is wrong. It is based on outdated assumptions. In 1990, the Colorado School of Mines’ Potential Gas Committee (PGC) estimated that, in the US, we had 1,100 trillion… Read more »
The first part of this assertion once was true, but it’s not true anymore. The second part was never true. Historically, natural gas traded in an 8-or-9 to 1 price… Read more »
The top natural gas exporters – Russia, Iran, Qatar and Algeria – are already in discussions about the formation of an OPEC-like natural gas cartel.
Increased worldwide consumption/production of natural gas is inevitable because it is the cleanest burning of the fossil fuels. The large worldwide reserves of natural gas used to supply natural gas… Read more »
If Russia et al. are successful in creating a gas OPEC (OGEC?), that won’t affect America’s gas market. See my answer to Point 5. Supply and demand for gas in… Read more »
This statement is wrong. It is true that there is a growing world trade in natural gas. However, unlike with oil, the US is not tied to world natural gas… Read more »
Two questions are raise here: (1) do we have enough domestic natural gas to serve the transportation market? and (2) what are the “critical” uses of natural gas? Question (1):… Read more »
This is not in any way an issue. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2009, the American residential, commercial and industrial markets together only used 2.5 quadrillion… Read more »