In a 2011 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) asked a provocative question: are we entering a golden age of gas?
At the time, U.S. shale gas production was surging and new fields were coming online around the globe, encouraged by high oil prices. Gas, it seemed, was poised to “play a far more prominent role in the global energy mix.”
Since 2011, the short answer to the IEA’s question has been ‘not yet,’ at least on a global scale. Though many of the IEA’s assumptions have been coming to fruition in the last two years, including major demand growth from China, major supply growth from unconventional sources, and low growth in nuclear power. But we should always temper our exuberance: there have been several points at which gas appeared primed to eclipse coal before trends reversed.
Continue reading the article on the Energy Reporters news website.
