Registration :: Energy 2030

Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Natural Gas and Alternative Technologies: Tools for a New US Gas Security Strategy

Ms. Melanie Kenderdine
Gas Technology Institute, USA

Abstract
This discussion will focus on the energy security implications of a global natural gas market and the potential for a suite of technologies to address associated policy concerns of the U.S. government. United States’ policymakers use “oil security” as code for “energy security.” This narrow definition is, however, inadequate for the U.S. to effectively address the growing energy security challenges of the 21st century. Global demand for all fossil fuels is rising dramatically, competition for capital to produce and deliver energy to markets is increasing, and global energy trade is rapidly expanding. These trends could alter geopolitical relationships and strategies in very significant ways, requiring a broader energy security policy focus than the “oil-centric” one of the last fifty years.

Natural gas is the most prominent new entrant in the energy security arena. Its elevated status is due to several factors:

Global growth in energy demand, with natural gas topping the list of energy sources to meet that demand;

The global abundance of gas as an energy resource, with roughly 6000 tcf of proved reserves;

The location of proved gas reserves, which are remote from the largest centers of demand growth.

In addition, over the next decade, worldwide environmental concerns and associated national, regional and local regulatory drivers will place additional demand pressures on natural gas, as the cleanest of the fossil fuels. These include: the Kyoto Protocol, the implementation of which will affect different regions in different ways, possibly creating gas demand “sinks” as signatory nations seek to meet pending emissions target deadlines; the contributions of gas combustion to climate change and air pollution; requirements for low sulfur diesel fuel which, by reducing the fungibility of oil-based fuel, will strain global refining capacity and provide new impetus for the development of gas (and coal) based alternatives; and local efforts to mitigate energy-related pollution and associated health impacts, particularly in the emerging megacities of Asia and Latin America.

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