Daniel Fisher, a senior editor at Forbes has a blog post titled: “A New World of Cheap Gas“. In the post he explores the impact of new gas production on contract rates, natural gas uses, the impact on renewable energy technology, government policy and more.

An article in Reuters explains that Statoil has a deal with Tennessee Gas Pipeline to transport Marcellus Shale natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York City and parts of New Jersey. This connection to cities on the east coast is part of what makes the Marcellus Shale gas play so important.

The Houston Chronicle reports on the “Natural Gas Act” – legislation that could expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel by providing tax incentives for natural gas vehicles and refueling stations. Versions of the bill are in the House and Senate.

Bloom Energy is introducing a new invention called the “Bloom Box”. It is a solid-oxide fuel cell capable of running on biomass or natural gas. A few are already in the field. More on the VentureBeat website.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

An article on the Boston.com website explores the quandary that natural gas shales present: developing them has environmental risk but replacing other fossil fuels with them has environmental advantages. How do they sit on the balance?

With the number of large companies taking stakes in the United States shale gas plays will a glut of natural gas develop? An article on the Reuters website reports that Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, says he does not see the world swamped with natural gas.

Natural gas prices can vary significantly from one state to another. Supply, demand, delivery costs and regulatory environments can all have an impact on the price of natural gas. The prices shown below are residential rates from 2009 but you can download a diversity of current and historical prices at the Energy Information Administration website.

Industry experts believe that the amount of natural gas produced from shale will rise steadily in the United States. That increase will keep prices low and attract new customers to natural gas. More in an article on the Houston Chronicle website.

Natural gas power plants are one solution to meet increasing energy demands in Israel. An article on the Rand.org website discusses Israel’s energy strategy.

Some methods of creating energy are more expensive than others; for example, coal-burning power plants are generally cheaper to operate than natural gas plants. But depending on emissions taxes, the most inexpensive and eco-friendly energy could turn out to be from natural gas. An article on the MIT website reports on solid-oxide fuel cells as a zero-emissions solution to creating electricity from natural gas.

The Energy Information Administration’s monthly energy review has some charts with interesting data. The two below show how the consumption of natural gas as a fuel for the generation of electricity in the United States has grown over the past four decades and how the use of coal for electricity generation has also grown. Both of these increases were possible because the consumption of electricity has increased significantly.

The International Energy Agency has released their “World Energy Outlook“.  A few quotes….

“Whatever climate policies are introduced, natural gas is set to continue to play a bridging role in meeting the world’s sustainable energy needs.”

“As one of the consequences of the financial crisis, global energy use is set to fall this year… it will soon resume its upward trend if government policies don’t change… with demand increases by 40% between now and 2030.”

“A continuation of current trends in energy use puts the world on track for a rise in temperature of up to 6°C and poses serious threats to global energy security.”

“Containing climate change is possible but will require a profound transformation of the energy sector.”

Allen Brooks has prepared “Deciphering the US Natural Gas Market” a summary of trends in natural gas prices and the United States natural gas market for EnergyTribune.

An article at UpStreamOnline.com reports that an ExxonMobil division president believes that the global demand for natural gas will rebound.

A BP executive says that the United States could reduce carbon dioxide emissions if they switched coal power plants and other coal consumption to natural gas.

Comment: If they were really serious about natural gas and the balance of trade they could have tied natural gas vehicles to the Auto Industry Bailouts or to the Clunkers program.