Natural gas is a fossil fuel, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons occurring naturally in gaseous form in porous rocks.

Natural gas is the seventeenth non-renewable resource set to disappear thanks to intensive exploitation by mankind.

World natural gas reserves are estimated at 163.4 billion tonnes oil equivalent.

June 2008 : at current rates of production, 2,743 billions m3 of gas per year, deposits will last 64 years.

Extractable deposits of this fossil fuel will therefore disappear for good in 2072. (Source BP Statistical Review of world Energy 2007).

This date is only a rough indication. Sources differ, and it could change with the evolution of our civilisation.

Natural gas is used as a source of energy by both domestic and industrial consumers for the production of heat (heating, ovens...) and electricity.

Problems arising from its disappearance will start to make themselves felt well before this fateful date. On this subject, see Hubbert"s peak theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/

The reconstitution of natural gas reserves will take millions of years, which is of course inconceivably long on a human time-scale.

Even if, thanks to advances in technology, we find new deposits by digging deeper and deeper into the Earth"s crust, this will afford us only a few years"reprieve and will not make a major impact on the situation.

There are several forms of natural gas, depending on their origin, composition and type of reservoir in which they occur. Nevertheless, the gas is always chiefly composed of methane and derived from the prehistoric decomposition of once-living organisms.

The digestive systems of our immense herds of cattle en produce huge quantities of methane, which is a greenhouse gas 23 times more harmful than CO₂. This flatulence is responsible for about 20% of global warming. This is enormous! Serious thought is being given to recovering these emissions, by fixing a plastic recipient to the rear of each animal.

Methane can be made from coal, but also from decomposing organic matter, or even from human excrement, as in China.

Furthermore, each year, gigantic pockets of hydrated methane are discovered stagnating on the ocean-bed, at a depth of about 100 metres, generally along the coastlines. It is possible that their industrial exploitation be envisaged one day. This would of course be disastrous for the planet, pushing up world temperatures another few degrees.

NASA scientists have just discovered some �€œnatural gas�€� on Titan, one of Saturn"s moons, in the form of liquid ethane and methane. But just imagine the energy it would take to bring some back!

Russia accounts for 22% of the world"s production.

Natural gas is highly polluting for our planet"s atmosphere. Its use generates 3.8 billion tonnes of CO₂ each year, causing world temperatures to rise at an alarming rate (never seen before in the course of the Earth"s long history) and unsettling all the climates.

Source: Science et Vie (Science and Life), special edition No. 243, Construire un monde durable (Building a sustainable world), June 2008.

To learn more about natural gas, see: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaz_naturel

Translation Nicholas ROSE

 

 

Don"t miss reading Point of view by Michel Walter, a programme for the end of our civilisation of wastage.