Special Report: Natural Gas

[Tusker]

Very good articles to read in this weeks Print Edition of the Economist.

Some interesting items:

Gas has wrought some remarkable changes. Over the past five years America has recorded a decline in greenhouse-gase emissions of 450m tonnes, the biggest anywhere in the world.

Gas produces around 25% less carbon dioxide than petrol. Gas at $2.50 is the equivalent of a barrel of oil at $15 rather than $100.

But the biggest advances have been in power generation. A technological breakthrough, the combined cycle gas turbine, a spinoff of the aviation industry has transformed the economics of the industry. Not only has it made it cheaper to generate electricity from gas, but the process releases up to 50% less carbon dioxide than does coal.

Gas power stations are a "low regret" option, according to Michael Stoppard of IHS CERA, a research firm. They are relatively cheap to build, beating nuclear power hands down in terms of capital costs, and in most cases they are also less expensive than renewables.

Welcome to the golden age of natural gas.