Economist touts natural gas at Utah energy summit
The natural-gas industry and people who promote gas as a cleaner fuel alternative need to “manage” environmental concerns about fracking, a key economist said at the fourth annual Governor’s Utah Energy Development Summit.
Dan North, chief economist for the credit-insurance company Euler Hermes North America, said Wednesday that despite the abundance and cheapness of natural gas compared with oil, only 3 percent of natural gas is used in transportation.
He said there are 17 million passenger vehicles around the world that run on natural gas (primarily CNG and LNG), but only 100,000 such vehicles in the United States. “This is an enormous opportunity going forward,” North said. “It’s terrific that we have this cheap natural gas.”
But, he added, “WE do have to manage one thing, which is the environmental concerns about fracking.” After listing all the countries, states and municipalities that have banned the oil-and-gas drilling technique also known as hydraulic fracturing, North said: “Environmental concerns have not been addressed well enough.”
