International Energy Agency says gas in golden age, 7 June 2011 Last updated at 10:08 GMT

Australian firms are building gas plants to power industry

Increasing gas supply and demand for the fuel could set off a "golden age of gas", the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

An IEA report claimed that demand for gas could outstrip coal by 2030, and get close to demand for oil by 2035.
The agency pointed to the uncertain future of nuclear energy as one of the main reasons for gas becoming so popular.
Growth in the sector would be led by China and the US, the IEA said.
"Ample supplies, robust emerging markets and uncertainty about nuclear power all point to a prominent role for gas in [the] global energy mix," the IEA said in a report.
Main drivers China is endeavouring to use cleaner forms of fuel in the coming years, and that is likely to increase the demand for gas substantially.
"Worldwide, 16 of the 20 most polluted cities are in China, largely related from coal power plant production," said Fatih Birol of the IEA.
Mr Birol added that China currently uses nearly as much gas as Germany, but given the growth potential, its consumption may exceed that of the entire European Union by 2035. As for the demand from the US, the IEA said that 60% of the country's coal power plants are expected to be retired in the next 20 years.
"There is a strong chance that a large proportion [of those coal mines] will be replaced by gas," said Mr Birol.
Nuclear and renewable risk The report warned that the availability of plentiful and cheap gas in some parts of the world may undermine demand for renewable energy.
Gas "could muscle out low-carbon fuels, such as renewables or nuclear - particularly in the wake of the incident at Fukushima," warned IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka.

Drilling for gas in the UK has been suspended due to earthquake concerns

Whilst gas is cleaner to burn than oil the IEA warned that burning gas instead of renewables would do relatively little to mitigate climate change.
The report suggested that under its gas scenario temperatures would rise by 3.5C.
Unconventional gas New gas supplies are expected to come from unconventional sources including shale gas in the US and coal bed methane reserves in Australia.
In its report the IEA estimated that such unconventional reserves were now as large as reserves of conventional gas.
However there are uncertainties about whether these unconventional reserves can be accessed around the world.
"It's very difficult, in particular in Europe," says Christine Tiscareno and oil and gas analyst at S&P Equity Research.
"France has already banned it. Europe is very densely populated so whatever you find is bound to be beneath a village or a town," she added.
Drilling for shale gas in the UK was recently suspended due to concerns about small earthquakes in the region.