Breakthrough in natural gas supply

This article from today’s New York Times gives just one example of why the notion of “scarce resources” is flawed. Over times new production techniques emerge which allow for the discovery and use of new sources of energy.

Evidently a new technique is allowing for just such a discovery of huge quantities of natural gas – the cleanest fossil fuel – from shale. According to the article:

“Shale is a sedimentary rock rich in organic material that is found in many parts of the world. It was of little use as a source of gas until about a decade ago, when American companies developed new techniques to fracture the rock and drill horizontally.

“Because so little drilling has been done in shale fields outside of the United States and Canada, gas analysts have made a wide array of estimates for how much shale gas could be tapped globally. Even the most conservative estimates are enormous, projecting at least a 20 percent increase in the world’s known reserves of natural gas.”