Future role of natural gas discussed at Houston energy conference

Mar 10, 2010 — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Jack Z. Smith

Mar. 10, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- HOUSTON -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO James Mulva made clear Tuesday that they have sharply contrasting views on the role of natural gas in helping meet the world's long-term energy needs.

In an address at the CERA Week 2010 energy conference, Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, characterized natural gas as a significant "bridge" or "transition" fuel in coming decades as the world shifts toward renewable energy and a lower-carbon environment less reliant on fossil fuels.

Mulva, in a subsequent speech, scoffed at such a limited view of the potential of natural gas, which he said will be a prime energy source in 2050, when the world's population is projected to reach 9.2 billion people, or roughly one-third more than today, putting continued upward pressure on energy demand.

"Natural gas is more than a bridge fuel. It is part of the long-term energy solution," said Mulva, whose Houston-based company has interests in the Barnett Shale of North Texas. In 2008, the Barnett surpassed the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado as the leading gas-producing area in the nation.

The issue of natural gas' future is significant in Tarrant County, the leading gas producer among Texas' 254 counties, and in neighboring Johnson County, which ranks No. 2.

Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, "just cannot ramp up fast enough" to replace carbon-based fossil fuels -- oil, natural gas and coal -- in the foreseeable future, Mulva said.

"Let's consider what gas can mean for the future -- the real future, not the pipe dreams of the hydrocarbon deniers," he said. "These are the well-intentioned people who support renewables at any cost and oppose hydrocarbons at any consequence."

Mulva said an explosion in U.S. "unconventional" drilling, including the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to greatly increase well production in shale gas fields such as the Barnett, has relieved long-term concerns about ample natural gas supplies and reduced future risks of exceptional price volatility. There is now the potential for the world to develop "multiple centuries of supply" of gas, he said. Natural gas increasingly could be used in electric power generation as a much cleaner alternative to coal, Mulva said. In addition, he forecast it will continue to be used extensively as a heating fuel and in industrial applications far into the future

Chu said America should lead the world "in a new industrial revolution" that reduces U.S. reliance on foreign oil and moves toward a lower-carbon environment that reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Many leading scientists say that rising CO {-2} emissions are causing human-induced global warming, with potentially disastrous environmental and economic consequences.

Chu said oil "is an ideal transportation fuel" that will continue to be heavily used in coming decades. "But we still have this climate change, so oil eventually will be an incremental fuel," said Chu, who said he wants to see development of electric cars that can go 100 miles without charging, as well as advances in biofuels.

Natural gas can provide a cleaner source for power generation than coal currently does, and can be a "key enabler of renewable energy" such as wind and solar by providing a backstop source of power when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining, said Chu, who nevertheless characterized it as only a bridge fuel to a greatly changed energy future.

JACK Z. SMITH, 817- 390-7724

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