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"We are drilling more and more and getting less and less, to
the point where new wells can't keep up with the falloff
from existing fields. We are running up against a
peak." Merwin Brown, gas analyst and consultant for the
government
Natural Gas (NG) is the second most important energy source after oil.
Since 1999 more than 220,000 megawatts of gas fired power plants have been built at a cost of over 143 billion.
Gas fired power plants are among the most common power plants being built in China, India and other developing countries.
In the United States Natural Gas supplies 20% of our electricity and 60% of residential heating.
It is critical to the manufacture of fertilizers for agriculture. (Over half of US fertilizer manufacturers have moved overseas.)
Gas production in the US is declining by 5% per year. Gas production falls off a cliff when the well is depleted there is no long, slow decline. 167 giant gas wells that provided 14.5% of our (US) gas in 2001 were down to producing 3% of our gas in 2003.
Most of the 200 power plants that already came online since 2001 or are scheduled to come online over the coming years are natural gas power plants.Natural Gas will peak soon after Global Peak Oil. We are investing in a dwindling resource and the price, which has gone up 300% in the last few years and will go up further. It will help in the transition but it will follow a similar bell shaped curve of peak oil.
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