Natural gas market expansion and delivery infrastructure costs: Case study of New England.

摘要

Substituting natural gas for oil is viewed as a promising way to reduce the growing US dependency on oil imports as well as to mitigate the negative environmental impacts resulting from oil burning, such as acid rain and global warming. However, infrastructure impediments might prevent natural gas from achieving its optimal market share, as illustrated by the fact that two-thirds of the 12.1 million homes using an oil product for space heating have no access to a gas line and account for 50% of the total residential oil use. The Northeast is clearly one of the US regions most severely handicapped by either the total lack of a gas transmission and distribution infrastructure or capacity shortages in the existing infrastructure, particularly in the New England states. The purpose of this study is to assess (1) the potential for growth of the natural gas market in New England, (2) the need for expanding the gas delivery infrastructure within and outside New England as a prerequisite to this growth, and (3) the incremental infrastructure costs of such growth, and thus its economic feasibility. 41 refs., 16 figs., 76 tabs. (ERA citation 15:046624)