This document discusses the current status and future projections of three main fossil fuels: coal, petroleum, and natural gas. For coal, estimates of remaining reserves range widely from 100-10,000 years depending on consumption rates. Petroleum reserves are expected to peak between 2020-2050, though demand is rising and expected to outpace supply within a few decades. Natural gas reserves could meet US demand for 100 years, though lower prices are impacting companies and workers in the natural gas industry. The document also outlines some pros and cons of each fossil fuel and states the author would personally invest in petroleum and natural gas stocks.

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HaroldSowards
Energy
2-18-15
One of the main fossil fuels is coal. There is a huge controversy over the amount of coal
that is left in the world. According to the United States Energy Information Administration in
2013, there is four trillion tons left in the United States that can be found, however there is only
256.7 billion tons left of recoverable coal. In the world, there is a bigger number (979.8 billion)
left that can be recovered. According to the Institute for Energy Research, the United States has
a recoverable coal reserve that can last for the next 250 years. However, it states that with
today’s consumption levels the coal resources can last up to 10,000 years. Although according to
River Basin Energy, we only have a 100 year supply left of bituminous coal. This does not look
positive, especially since it states that coal consumption will increase by 56% by 2035 which
result in the total amount of coal reserves to be drastically cut short.
The demand for coal has been on the rise in the last few years in the world, due to the
talks about the shortage of coal in the near future. However, according to the National Academy
of Science, the demand for coal will be going up by 30% up till 2030. This is due to the
increased reliance of both the public and private sector on electricity powered objects. However,
with coal being only $2 per BTU, the coal reserves are one of the cheaper fossil fuels and will
probably start declining in the private sector.
According to Intellectual Takeout, some of the major cons of coal include gas emission
especially carbon dioxide, the mining itself is very dangerous not only to the environment, but
for the miners as well, acid rain, high levels of methane, clean coal methods aren’t proven, there
is a high likelihood that all of the supply of coal is already close to being tapped and it is a non-
renewable resource. The pros, however, state that there is an awful lot of resources available,

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HaroldSowards
Energy
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coal is cheap and effective, coal plants are safe, is already proven and has a high load factor that
results in a lot of energy produced.
Another of the fossil fuels is petroleum. The United States has the largest crude
petroleum supply in the world with 727 million barrels. There has been a steady increase in the
supply of this fossil fuel over the last five years due to new shales that are being found across the
existing reservoir sites. According to the US EIA, there was a 10% increase in petroleum
reserves just in 2013 alone. In the world there are 1 trillion barrels of proven reserves and the
amount that is economically available is 2-3 trillion barrels. It is projected that all of these will be
at their peak between 2020 and 2050. However, there is some that say this won’t happen till
2121 (Botkin).Either way the price in oil will dramatically increase when the product becomes
scarce. People use 30 billion barrels a year at current rate and by 2020, it is expected to reach 50
billion barrels a year. This basically gives us 20-40 years till we use up all the reserves that we
have left (Botkin).
Petroleum is the major fuel used in transportation which draws a huge demand in the
public and private sector just from the pure money made from that industry. Global demand is
84 million barrels a day which is raising 1-2% per year till 2030 when it is said to peak at 116
million barrels a day. The majority of the demand is in developing countries however and when
the demand is highest the medical sector is the highest affected followed by the agriculture sector
(Frumkin). So, it looks like the demand for petroleum at the moment in the private and public
sectors are average, but in the future it is projected to be a lot higher especially in companies
who have a stake in the health of countries as petroleum plays a huge part in that.

3. Sowards 3
HaroldSowards
Energy
2-18-15
According to Occupy Theory, the pros of petroleum include: its high density, the ease it
takes to extract it, low cost and is very flexible in its uses. The cons include: pollution, limited
number of resources and the fact that they are non-renewable.
The last fossil fuel I know of is natural gas. According to the American Gas Association,
there is 2718 trillion cubic feet in the United States, which is said to be able to meet the demand
of the US for the next 100 years. 33 states are said to be producing natural gas at the moment.
However, Americans consume 22 tcf per year.
The supply of natural gas keeps growing, while prices keep dropping. This may affect the
private sector who makes their income off of natural gas. Due to this drop in price, most of the
companies start cutting workers to help make up for their loss in revenue. With all the people
talking bad about natural gas it has sort of dropped its value in the public sector and the private
sector is trying to pick up the slack and bring the demand back up. I’m personally expecting
there to be a huge increase in natural gas as soon as all of the other fossil fuels runs out.
According to PSEG, the pros of natural gas are: it is very clean (cleanest of the fossil
fuels), no spills, non-toxic, convenient, reliable and is very safe. However, according to
Conserve-Energy-Future, the cons are: it is flammable, complex processing, helps release
greenhouse emissions, non-renewable, expensive installation, and inefficient transportation.
If my own funds were available, I would personally invest in both petroleum and natural
gas stock. I’d do this because both of them seem to be gaining a lot more resources and thus will
have more to offer in the long run. While if I would invest in coal, my potential earnings
wouldn’t really be that high in the future, so in order to make the best future for myself, I’d need
to find the ones that bring in the biggest profits. With that being said, the majority of my money
would be dedicated to petroleum, because it seems to be in a high demand right now and the cost

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HaroldSowards
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is pretty good from a business perspective, while natural gas doesn’t exactly spell out bread
winner immediately.
References
Botkin, D. (2010 March 30). A scientist’s guide to energy independence: oil. In Powering the
future: A scientist’s guide to energy independence. (Oil) Retrieved from:
http://www.ftpress.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1573021&seqNum=5
Conserve-Energy-Future. (2015). Advantages and disadvantages of natural gas. Retrieved from:
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-natural-
gas.php
Frumkin, H., Hess, J. & Vindigni, S. (2009, January). Energy and public health: The challenge of
peak petroleum. Public Health Reports. Retrieved from:
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2602925/
Grape, S. (2014 December) U.S. crude oil and natural gas proven reserves. Retrieved from:
http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/
Institute for Energy Research. Encyclopedia entry: Coal. Retrieved from:
http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/topics/encyclopedia/coal/
Intellectual Takeout. (2015). 9. What are some of the pros and cons of coal? Message posted to
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/faq/9-what-are-some-pros-and-cons-coal
McGill, C. (2012, February). Supply. Retrieved from: https://www.aga.org/supply
Natgas. (2013, September 20). Natural Gas Supply. Retrieved from:
http://naturalgas.org/business/supply/

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HaroldSowards
Energy
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National Academy of Sciences. (2008). Supply and demand. What you need to know about
energy. Retrieved from: http://www.nap.edu/reports/energy/supply.html
OccupyTheory. (2014 April 13). Advantages and disadvantages of petroleum. Retrieved from:
http://occupytheory.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-petroleum/
Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated. (2015). Advantages of natural gas. Retrieved
from: https://www.pseg.com/business/small_large_business/convert/advantages.jsp
River Basin Energy. How long will coal last? Retrieved from:
http://riverbasinenergy.com/pages/the-future-of-coal/how-long-will-coal-last.php
US Department of Energy. (2014 July 3). How much coal is left. Coal Explained. Retrieved
from: http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=coal_reserves