It has long been predicted that the world will run out of resources; thus prompting a race for renewables. As we are now beginning to understand, those renewables aren’t quite as friendly as advertised. And is there really a reason to panic over fossil fuel supply? No, there isn’t. We have more proven natural gas reserves now than ever before.
The gift of shale gas
The advancements in technology that brought us the shale boom in 2008 have brought us an 85% rise in proven natural gas reserves. According to the Energy Information Administration:
Proved reserves are estimated volumes of hydrocarbon resources that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. Reserves estimates change from year to year as new discoveries are made, as existing fields are thoroughly appraised, as existing reserves are produced, as prices and costs change, and technologies evolve.
Notice they say that proven reserves change from year to year based on new discoveries and new technology. The United States is good at many things, and high on that list is technology innovation. The shale boom brought us a major bump in reserves and output unlike anything even those in the top tiers of the industry ever imagined. It is therefore entirely likely there will be another massive increase in reserves with the next great American innovation in natural gas technology. “Watching our estimates for the Marcellus rise from 2 trillion, to 84 trillion, to 97 trillion in under 20 years demonstrates the effects American ingenuity and new technology can have,” USGS director Jim Reilly.
The future of energy
In 2018, the United States produced 11% more natural gas than it did the year before. Shale gas now accounts for 70% of our natural gas production. With this increase, natural gas is being utilized over other means of energy production more and more. It is hard to overlook its affordability, reliability and environmental benefits. Power plants are turning to natural gas. Solar panels and wind turbines require natural gas in their production. Natural gas is the energy of the present and is fast becoming the energy of the future. Reserves, in step with technology, will continue to increase.
