Just more evidence to support the introduction of natural gas.
Oil Oil is the most precious and least abundant of the world's fossil fuels. Never-the-less the amount of Oil on the Earth is likely at least the range of several trillion barrels of Oil once non-conventional sources of Oil are considered. These include the Heavy Oil deposits of South America, the Oil sands of Western Canada and shale Oil found through out the World. In addition as the price of Oil increases, previously abandoned fields become economic to re-extract. Consequently despite constantly increasing Oil production throughout the world, there is likely at least a century of usable Oil available in the world. A more useful question is: At what price will petroleum and gasoline be widely displaced as the fuel of choice for transport? It has already been largely displaced as a fuel for Electricity. It appears that world demand from Oil is such that OPEC can no longer control its price and output from the most readily refined petroleum has peaked. In July, 2006, the Australian Broadcasting Commission televised another an excellent documentary about high Oil prices. You can download it from here. The Chicago tribune have produced an excellent series on Peak Oil in their July 29th edition. You can find it here.
Coal Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel. It is found throughout the world and current proven reserves are sufficient for at least 300 years of exploitation. Although coal is cheap, it is dangerous to mine (thousands of miners die every year all over the world) and is bulky and expensive to transport. Because coal has relatively low energy content for its weight, a lot of it is required to produce a given amount of electricity. For example, A 1000 MW coal power station requires about 8,600,000 kg of coal per day, compared to 74 kg per day of uranium for the equivalent sized nuclear power plant. In addition coal-based power plants produce vast amounts of pollutants, including radioactivity, in addition to the C02 emissions which contribute to global-warming.
Natural Gas Natural Gas reserves are intermediate between Coal and Oil. It is currently the most favoured fuel source for new electricity production with the USA. Natural gas combined-cycle generators can reach 60% efficiency for converting heat energy into electricity. Natural gas also produces 40 -50 % fewer CO2 emissions for the same amount of electricity generated as Coal. However the price of Natural Gas is steadily rising and the costs associated with sequestration of the generated CO2 are not yet included in the price of electricity passed on the consumer.
The price of Natural Gas delivered via long-term contracts as Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is typically around $6 per MCF.
Within the USA, Natural Gas prices have been extremely volatile over the past few years as production has not been able to keep pace with demand. As of March, 2006 the spot price was around $7.50 per thousand Cubic Feet (MCF).
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