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To: Stephen O who wrote (3503)	12/22/1998 7:50:00 PM
From: Edward W. Richmond	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

Steven, the anticipated shortage of natural gas has not materialized yet. Storage is filled to capacity and Alberta Energy is reactivating old natural gas storage to hold surplus gas. Natural gas exploration is at a very low level and could be ramped up quickly. I would love to see a shortage of natural gas. My gas and oil service stocks might stop their slide. However, I don't see supply as a problem for the production of methanol, at least not in the short and intermediate term. Long term has too many unknowns for me to speculate. Regards, Ed

To: Stephen O who wrote (3503)	12/22/1998 8:34:00 PM
From: Jim	Respond to of 5827

You are quite right to assume that there would not be an adequate supply of methanol for a sudden demand, but since this is a product being refined all over the world and easily shipped by tanker or truck, the same as gasoline,there should be a commensurate growth factor between supply and usage. Also, there are other methods for producing methanol than with natural gas, and according to some reports can be considered as a renewable resource.There should be sufficient amounts of methanol available for the foreseeable future, after which other methods to produce and store hydrogen can be developed. Fuel cells do no not depend on a reformer as long as clean hydrogen is available,ie; carbon fiber storage devices . The rapidity in which information is disseminated these days, allows for much faster development of new technologies,and I feel that solving the problems of infrastructure for FCs will be addressed world wide, and many solutions will be forthcoming.