MIT: The Future of Natural Gas
While no fuel source is a silver-bullet for our energy demands or our economy, natural gas offers some attractive opportunities for Kansas, especially as compared to coal.
Natural gas is about 50% cleaner than coal in terms of carbon emissions, and emits virtually no particulate material or mercury (both significant emissions from coal combustion, and both significant health threats). Natural gas is also much cleaner on ozone and ozone-precursors than coal.
New domestic discoveries and recovery technologies have brought the price of natural gas down so that it is currently comparable to coal (just on fuel costs per btu).
And Kansas has significant natural gas reserves – we currently are a major exporter of natural gas, even though natural gas makes up only about 4% of our electricity production.
This report provides a large overview of natural gas production and its outlook for future use and development.
