Natural Gas: Fastest Growing Energy Source

Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases. While Natural Gas is formed primarily of Methane, it can also contain ethane, propane and butane.

Natural Gas is colourless, shapeless and odourless in pure form. But when burned, it gives a great deal of energy. However, unlike fossil fuels, Natural Gas is clean burning and emits lower level of harmful byproducts into the air. There is an abundance of natural gas but it is a non-renewable resource, the formation of which takes thousands and possibly millions of years. Therefore, understanding the availability of our supply of natural gas is important as we increase use of this fossil fuel.

Britain was the first country to commercialise the use of natural gas produced from coal was used to light houses. Natural Gas is like a fossil fuel. It means, the remains of plants and animals and micro-organisms that lived millions of years ago.

Natural Gas account for about a quarter of global energy production, the same as coal and well behind oil, which account for about 40% of global production. Russia, Iran and Qatar combined hold natural gas reserves representing more than 50% of world's reserves of Natural Gas. As natural gas is essentially irreplaceable (at least with current technology), it is important to have an idea of how much natural gas is left in the ground for us to use. However, this becomes complicated by the fact that no one really knows exactly how much natural gas exists until it is extracted. Measuring the amount ofnatural gas in the ground is no easy job, and it involves a great deal of inference, accuracy and estimation. With new technologies coming up day by day, these estimates are becoming more and more reliable and accurate; however, they are still subject to revision and cannot be used with much precision and accuracy.

India comes at 4th positionin the list of largest energy consumer after China, USA and Russia and third largest importer in the world. Currently India consumes about 8% of Natural gas. A common misconception about natural gas is that we are running out, and quickly. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

India is protecting itself as a lucrative market for foreign investors. The "Make in India" campaign and PM Modi meeting up with world leaders and global investors to attract investments and capital needs to be backed up with adequate availability of potential for capacity building, slick policies for resources allocation and advanced technology.