"Natural gas the next green hope"

Gwyn Morgan, the retired founding CEO of Encana Corporation, shares his views on alternative fuels. There are significant problems with hydrogen, biofuels, and electric-powered vehicles.

But there is an alternative fuel that can make a difference, and it’s another hydrocarbon. Natural gas is powering many South Korean vehicles and the so-called Green Highways Project brings together South Korea, China, Thailand and 17 other Asia-Pacific countries in a massive strategy for natural-gas-powered vehicles.

In North America, four factors promise to make natural gas a viable alternative to oil-based fuels. First, revolutionary technology is unlocking enormous new supplies of shale gas. Second, unrest in North Africa and the Middle East has underlined U.S. oil-supply vulnerability. Third, there are clear environmental advantages to clean-burning natural gas (which emits 25 per cent less carbon dioxide than diesel). Fourth, there have been major advances in natural gas fuel technology.