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Natural gas remains an extremely viable and competitive fuel source for well into the future. The benefits of using natural gas are many and include the existence of processing and delivery mechanisms, as well as equipment in both homes and businesses to combust this clean-burning fuel. "A common misconception about natural gas is that we are running out, and quickly. However, this couldn't be further from the truth" (http//www.naturalgas.org/overview/resources.asp), according to the E.I.A. - Energy Information Administration. Though current depletion estimates for conventional natural gas supplies are in the decades, depending upon the source, some of the nation's top scientists see a considerably more exciting future for natural gas. According to research scientists at MIT, "there may be enough natural gas on earth to last for thousands of years" (http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/12732). These abundant gas supplies represent those currently unattainable primarily due to location. Some are contained in hydrates well beneath the ocean, with no current technology able to reach them. But, for other sources, it's a far different story. Because of it's explosive nature, natural gas can be difficult to transport in its gaseous state. Large reserves of natural gas in remote regions, such as Siberia or Alaska's North Slope are, therefore, not tapped. But, new methods for converting dangerous natural gas into liquid hydrocarbons have been developed and hold great promise for allowing access to these vast gas reserves (http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/12732). Refineries are currently under construction that will employ this new "gas- to-liquid" technology. Ultraclean diesel and gasoline will be derived from methane at these facilities, satisfying the requirement that a usable energy source needs to be convertible into a liquid for use in the transportation industry (SUNY ESF - EFB 120 online course; Beal - U4M5 Video # 1). The two other requirements for usable fuels, by the way, are that they are able to provide both electricity and heat, as natural gas can. There are yet more options to increase natural gas supplies considerably. One of the most promising involves 'hydrofracking' (using water to force out the gas that is trapped in-between particles of rock) in the Marcellus shale region, a nearby (to us) black shale formation. Again, this expanded source is being made possible by recently developed technologies in drilling and a new pipeline in New York State. Estimates for this source are between 168 - 516 trillion cubic feet. Compare to New York State's current usage of 1.1 trillion cubic feet per year (http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/46288.htm). There is a lot of natural gas out there and improving technologies will allow it to be used in existing infrastructure for hundreds of years to come.

North American Natural Gas Supply Assessment

Can US Natural Gas Production Be Ramped Up? http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4436

How Much Natural Gas is There? http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/resources.asp

Unconventional Natural Gas Reservoir Could Boost U.S. Supply http://live.psu.edu/story/28116

Hitting the Natural Gas Jackpot http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/12732

Marcellus Shale - Appalachain Basin Natural Gas Play http://geology.com/articles/marcellus-shale.shtml

Marcellus Shale: Gas well drilling in the Marcellus Shale http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/46288.htm