Next to oil, gas is also of strategic importance. Gas, for the purposes of this page, comes from producing oil wells, petroleum based gas wells, coal methane gas wells, methane hydrates and coal based synfuel gas. An additional source of gas for this country is the ever increasing imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the middle east and elsewhere. Currently, gas and coal together make up the lions share of energy sources used in the U.S.

If you live in the North Fork Valley area, you will probably be interested in monitoring the website of Gunnison Energy Corporation. As was detailed in a recent Delta County Independent article,there is a projected huge natural gas field that may contain upwards of 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the North Fork area. At a market value of $7.00 per 1000 cubic feet, I calculate this field could be worth as much as $70 billion dollars at the well head ($140 billion at retail residential price levels). Natural gas pricing can be checked at the Government's EIA site. In comparison, the assessed valuation of everything in all of Delta County is a measly $250 million dollars. See the Gunnison Energy site for further details.

As can be seen from the chart to the right, as goes the demand, so goes the price of natural gas. Natural gas is used for everything from generating electrical power to being feed stock for all types of chemical processes and products. Relatively high labor rates in the U.S. together with the seamingly ever increasing cost of natural gas has resulted in the U.S. being less competitive than desired in the world markets.

Contrary to past comments by DMEA, the Oakridge National Labs (ORNL) has a section that is dedicated to the principals of Distributed Generation (DG) and Combined Heat and Power (CHP). A recent report commissioned by ORNL is typical and focuses on Gas Powered Heat Pumps & DG not electric powered. Additional details on CHP, DG and the ORNL programs can be found in the links section to the right.

Like oil shale, the oceans hold vast quantities of methane bearing hydrates. Just as with oil shale, no one has yet figured out an efficient and economical way of tapping the vast hydrate resources.

Extraction of methane from underground coal beds is a popular process in the mountain west. It is not, however, without it's problems. Typically water laden coal must first be de-watered (pumped dry) which can disrupt nearby water aquifers used for irrigation and domestic wells. Developers often also fracture underground rock and coal structures with chemicals in the form of liquids which are injected underground at high pressure. Leakage of and odor from these chemicals has caused untold problems for residents nearby to the wells.

Synthetic gas production from coal, when done properly, yields a bonanza of side products. End products range from fertilizer to rare gases to phenol and naphtha based chemicals. CO₂, in the case of Basin Electric's Dakota Gas operation, is a positive and is used to enhance the production of oil wells. Normally, however, being a greenhouse gas, CO₂ must sequestered in some manner to keep it out of the environment. According to experts in this area, this is most easily done if the CO₂ is pure and is not mixed with Nitrogen.

Please continue to next page - - Oil -- Gas -- Propane

• Gas To Liquids
• Gas to Diesel
• Methane Hydrates
• USGS Methane Hydrates
• ORNL Methane Hydrates
• Methane Tipping Point
• Gas GWP's
• Coal Gasification
• Syngas Side Products
• Gunnison Energy Main Site
• North Fork Valley Gas Field
• Natural Gas Prices
• ORNL Cooling Heating & Power
• ORNL Report
• CHP Facts
• Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Site
• Climate Energy
• AISIN Energy
• Infinia Systems
• Marathon Cogen
• Propane CHP