How Much Natural Gas is Left?

Although oil gets the media attention, natural gas also plays a major role in the energy needs of the world. So, how much natural gas is left in the world? The answer may surprise you.

How Much Natural Gas is Left?

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is non-renewable. Although called "natural gas", it could also be called methane for all intents and purposes since methane comprises the vast majority of the gas. Natural gas is found in oil fields, coal minds and its own unique locations.

Natural gas is more of a direct use energy in our daily lives. By direct use, I am referring to actually seeing it. You see it in action when you turn on your gas stove. You also see it when you spend 20 minutes burning your fingers while trying to light the pilot light on a heater. Beside residential use, natural gas is also used by industries for a wide variety of manufacturing applications. A less known use is as an ingredient in the production of ammonia.

Interestingly, and perhaps unfortunately, the countries with major natural gas resources are mostly those that also have significant oil reserves. Iran and Russia have some of the largest fields, as do many other Mideast countries. Fortunately, natural gas is also found in oil-deficient countries such as Australia, Argentina and Mexico.

So, how much natural gas do we currently have to fill our energy needs? The most current estimates put the reserves at roughly six thousand trillion cubic feet. My, that certain sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Given our current rate of use, however, it equate to between 60 and 65 years worth of supply.

As with oil, there are two issues that can throw the estimate of the number of years completely off. The issues are economic growth and further reserves.

The first is the emerging economies of China and India to mention to of the bigger ones. The economies of these countries are expanding like crazy and natural gas is one of the energy sources they live off of. In the next 10 to 20 years, the amount of natural gas needed by these countries should multiply, putting strain on the supply.

The second issue is more positive. Simply put, we should find more natural gas fields in future years. The prospects for finding more are, in fact, much better than those for oil. The reason has to do with transportation. Simply put, oil is easy to transport while natural gas is not. Recent innovations have solved many of the transportation issues, so exploration efforts are picking up.

Natural gas plays a fundamental role in the overall energy supplies of most economies, particularly first world ones. While natural gas supplies seem strong for the foreseeable future, it is important to understand it is not a renewable resource, to wit, it will run out one day.

About the Author

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com - a directory of solar companies.