The paradigm shift in the global energy market: Domination of natural gas

Abstract

In the 20th century, giant reserves of natural gas were discovered, intensive construction of main gas pipelines began, and effective technologies for liquefying and transporting natural gas in a reduced state appeared. This led to the fact that in the first decade of the 21st century the share of natural gas in the world energy balance increased significantly. The developed and well-established transportation system and modern fuel and energy equipment allow the delivery of natural gas to almost any place on the planet at a relatively low price. Natural gas is a relatively clean source of energy; when it is burned, an insignificant amount of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide is formed with almost no ash and dust. Currently, a paradigm shift is observed in the global energy market. The global world energy system has entered a new period of its development-the era of natural gas. One of the main questions for this period is for how long will we have natural gas resources? Based the proven reserves and annual production of natural gas data, it is not difficult to calculate that these reserves will be sufficient only for the next 50-60 years. Is this correct? What are the real reserves of natural gas on our planet? Scientific considerations about the origin of hydrocarbons, plus discovered reserves of unconventional gas, particularly shale gas and gas hydrates, provide evidence of the presence of enormous, virtually inexhaustible hydrocarbon resources in our planet. We clearly have sufficient natural gas for several hundred years. To ensure the sustainable development of this energy resource we need to create and implement into the market innovative technologies for natural gas deposit exploration and exploitation. The environmental aspect should be one of the main criteria to assess these new technologies.