Technology

Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) say natural gas has a bright future, but they said the government needs to be more involved and industry needs to remain vigilant over potential — but so far unrealized — environmental disasters.

A panel of energy and technology executives Tuesday reiterated the need for a national energy policy, saying it would help both traditional energy sources, such as natural gas, and various renewables, such as wind energy, which is experiencing a marked slowdown in its U.S. growth.

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are studying methods for extracting natural gas from tight sands and shale formations using a single-molecule imaging system.

According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections, total domestic natural gas production will grow from 20.6 Tcf in 2008 to 23.3 Tcf in 2035. With technology improvements and rising prices, production from shale plays grows to 6 Tcf in 2035, more than offsetting declines in conventional production, the agency said in the “Annual Energy Outlook 2010” (AEO2010) reference case, which was released last week.

Beginning in November 2009 “cyberattacks were launched against several global oil, energy and petrochemical companies,” McAfee Labs Chief Technology Officer George Kurtz wrote in a blog post last week introducing the firm’s white paper on its investigation of the attacks. The attacks, which the security firm is calling “Night Dragon,” are believed to have originated in China.

Beginning in November 2009 “cyberattacks were launched against several global oil, energy and petrochemical companies,” McAfee Labs Chief Technology Officer George Kurtz wrote in a Wednesday blog post introducing the firm’s white paper on its investigation of the attacks. The attacks, which the security firm is calling “Night Dragon,” are believed to have originated in China.

Natural gas drilling in West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale already has enriched the state through new jobs and more revenue and is on track to create up to 20,000 jobs by 2015, according to a study by West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER).

The legislature of Tompkins County — which is in west-central New York in the midst of the state’s Marcellus Shale area — has approved a resolution prohibiting the leasing of county-owned land for natural gas drilling that involves hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation.

With higher natural gas liquids (NGL) prices relative to natural gas, a continued surge in output from the gas shale plays and cryogenic gas processing technologies, new infrastructure continues to be in high demand for the U.S. liquids market, according to a report by Bentek Energy LLC.