(377d) Impact of US Natural Gas Abundance on Carbon Management Strategies

The abundant supply of natural gas provided by the fracking  boom has dramatically changed the options for carbon dioxide management.  It appears that much of the near-term regulatory need for carbon management will be met by switching natural gas for coal.  However, long term supplies are still uncertain and may strongly affect that transition.  These reductions will at most result in about 500 million tons of US energy sector reduction.  The remaining 2,000 million tons will have to be obtained through advanced capture systems that work on coal and natural gas, which will be a decided challenge for existing technology.  A new generation of carbon capture technologies will be necessary to meet this challenge.