The US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory last week released a report in support of natural gas as a cost-effective resource for the generation of electric power and an environmentally favorable alternative.
According to the “Role of Alternative Energy Sources: Natural Gas Power Technology Assessment”, because of the existence of shale basins across the US, natural gas will continue to expand as a gas resource, while horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will guarantee decades of domestic supplies.
In terms of environmental impact, the report said “properly engineered and implemented natural-gas systems have favorable environmental and cost profiles in comparison to other energy sources.”
The report is based on the evaluation of gas combined cycle; gas combined cycle with carbon capture and sequestration; gas turbine simple cycle; and fleet baseload average.
