"Natural gas is a revolution. The difference in price of production by natural gas compared with other fuels is huge. The difference in producing a unit of energy by diesel or heavy industrial oil is three - it is three times more expensive than natural gas," said Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Shaul Tzemach today at a ministry conference on natural gas and energy efficiency by local authorities held at the Ashkelon Academic College.
Tzemach added that Israel has no natural gas problem in the long term but that the Ministry of National Infrastructures is deeply worried about what will happen in 2013, when Israel's only gas reservoir - Yam Tethys - runs out before the Tamar reserve comes online, resulting in a possible natural gas shortage.
Tzemach said, "The Ministry of National Infrastructures puts great importance on two issues: natural gas and energy efficiency, which are at the forefront of the ministry's energy activity. Cooperation between local authorities, planning commissions, and the Natural Gas Authority is also very important in all matters related to the implementation of energy work plans. The public has not fully grasped the size of the revolution that the energy market will undergo.
"In 2004, natural gas was an anecdote; energy used by large consumers, not something that belongs to the Israeli economy as a whole. Slowly, as the years passed, and especially since the Tamar discovery offshore from Haifa, and the indications about the Leviathan discovery, we stand before a revolution - a revolution in prices and in emissions reduction.
"Natural gas is cheaper than other fuels, and cheaper energy will naturally affect all other goods that use energy in their production, so that anyone who currently is a potential user of diesel, even a small consumer like a drycleaner or bakery, can lower its costs by hooking up to natural gas, and passing on the savings to its customers. Expanding the use of natural gas in the economy is critical, and we will do everything we can to expand its use as fast as possible to as many consumers as possible."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 17, 2011
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