At the conclusion of the World Gas Conference in 2018 in Washington, D.C., the United States handed the presidency of the International Gas Union to South Korea. The South Koreans are now leading the organization for this triennium and will host the next World Gas Conference in Daegu in 2021. IGU President Joe Kang is interviewed for a piece in this issue of American Gas about the worldwide benefits of the growth of natural gas. He says, “Policies that promote the use of gas are usually motivated by solving a problem or a set of problems, not just supporting gas for gas’s sake.” I couldn’t agree more.
As the article covers in great depth, natural gas provides solutions to a host of different challenges. Natural gas is a solution for worldwide energy demand. Both here and abroad, people need more energy to fuel our 21st-century lives. For millions of people around the globe, abundant and affordable natural gas has meant access to advantages that we often take for granted but are made possible by 24-hour energy, including critical needs like health care and safety.
Increased use of natural gas has led to U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions hitting 25-year lows. This will continue as Americans use more gas and get more energy from it through the development of increasingly more efficient natural gas appliances, tighter-fitting windows and doors, better insulation and utility-sponsored energy efficiency programs.
Yet, what is lost in all of the headlines about the decline in greenhouse gases is the story about how our natural gas revolution has led to cleaner air through reductions in particulate matter as well. Natural gas usage emits lower levels of damaging pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides compared to other carbon-based energy sources. People are amazed to learn that the air in Houston is cleaner than the air in Paris, London or Berlin despite massive European investment in renewables. As the article notes, public health in the developing world, especially for children, would benefit from the cleaner air that comes with increased natural gas usage.
Our vast natural gas supplies have also shifted geopolitical overdependence on a handful of nations that wield their energy monopoly as a weapon. The mere prospect of the increased availability of reliable American resources, and the competitive prices we are able to sustain thanks to these vast resources and incredibly efficient production techniques, has altered the worldwide energy landscape.
What has made so much of this new abundance possible is technological innovation that has unleashed natural gas from shale formations. Similarly, what will propel the next revolution in the energy space will be great leaps in the technology that delivers and uses natural gas.
In April, I was at the 2019 American Gas Association Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition, where we again broke attendance and exhibition records. With a spotlight on employee safety, contractor safety and pipeline safety, this show highlighted some of the best innovation being brought to market across the industry. Through robots and advanced imaging, we are making visible what was previously hidden from view, including what is in the air, underground and inside pipelines. The pipes, joints and fittings that we install are constantly being updated to make them safer and easier to use. And the remarkable comfort and efficiency that are available today in homes from natural gas appliances are saving customers money and reducing their environmental footprint.
The solution to so many of our world’s challenges can be met by the promise of natural gas. With decades of experience, vast supplies and an unending amount of ingenuity, the United States is leading the way.
President and CEO