The NatGas V. New Energy Story

Could Renewable Energy Really Breeze Past Natural Gas?

Ken Silverstein, July 3, 2018 (Forbes)

“…[Natural gas reduces greenhouse gases by] cutting into coal’s marketshare…[but limits the growth of] more promising options, such as wind and solar energy…[Both are increasingly] central to global commerce…Natural gas’ share of the power generation market could hit 50% percent in the coming years while that of coal will stagnate at 30%...Bloomberg New Energy Finance says that wind and solar electricity will make up 50% of the world’s energy mix — a function of the falling price of the underlying technologies as well as $548 billion being invested in storage capacity by 2050…[As a result,] CO2 emissions will fall by 38%...[N]atural gas will get used mostly to firm up intermittent wind and solar energies…[and its] share of the global electricity supply falls from 21% today to 15% by 2050…[The longer-term concern with natural gas is its methane emissions controls…Economic forces will propel the natural gas industry forward…But those advances do not preclude the development of newer and cleaner technologies to support renewables, which are also gaining favor in policy circles. For the foreseeable future, the fuels will co-exist…” click here for more

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