Alaska gas could power future

Though oil has faded as the foundation of Alaska’s economy, the years ahead could see the state’s large gas reserves take its place.

Throughput in the existing oil pipeline was once more than two million barrels a day at its peak, but today the line carries less than a half million barrels each day. Gas is a less valuable commodity than oil but it could play an important role in the nation’s energy picture in the years ahead. We have a lot of it.

A gas pipeline has yet to be built, presumably because the market price of gas does not yet justify it. But if you can believe the experts that could change.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicts in his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, that gas will play a vital role in the changing energy picture of the years ahead.

Currently one of the critical factors in the world’s declining climate is the burning of coal and oil for heat, energy and transportation. That will have to change to reduce the deleterious impact on the world’s climate that goes with such fuels.

The ultimate answer for energy sources seems likely to be the sun, wind, tide and perhaps nuclear. To the extent they can be safely harnessed to power the world ahead, they should be. Gates says the world is facing a climate crisis that presents an existential threat to humanity. That means that if humans do not solve the problems, the climate will fail and humanity will cease to exist.

But at least in the interim years, before the energy generated by the sun, wind and tide can be harnessed to fill human needs, electricity will need to be generated by burning gas and nuclear fusion and stored in batteries. Gas is obviously not the ultimate solution since its consumption necessarily produces some pollution, but the level is far less than for the heavier fossil fuels, coal and oil.

Part of that changing picture will almost certainly require that humankind move away from automobiles that burn gasoline. That will presumably mean electric vehicles like those currently produced by Tesla.

I drive a 20-year-old Volvo that burns gasoline, not a lot but more than future limits are likely to allow. I would love to buy an electric vehicle but can’t see that in my future. At my age long-range planning means deciding what I’m going to be doing next summer. Buying a $37,000 Tesla just isn’t in the cards.

But the future world envisioned by Bill Gates involves millions of people around the world driving electric vehicles and using electricity to heat their homes. That would make a huge difference in the amount of climate-damaging emissions wafting into our atmosphere.

Gates makes no mention of Alaska in his book but it seems like a very real possibility that our state’s large gas reserves could become an important part of the energy picture, at least in the United States.

The current estimate of gas under Alaska acreage is 37 trillion cubic feet and it could be 150 trillion cubic feet or more. Getting that gas to market would require construction of a gas pipeline and terminal, as well as developing the transportation and marketing facilities required to bring Alaska reserves into the world’s markets.

A gas pipeline has been on the books for many years and a lot of work has gone into the planning. Making the line a reality is work that would need to be done by people with the proper resources.

It’s not a given that Alaska gas will get to the world markets and make a difference but it is a large resource and the years ahead may see it become an important factor in the energy picture.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.