ABSTRACT
Natural gas is the energy source that can probably be increased in its supply most rapidly on a short-term basis. But if orthodox geology is correct in its explanation of the origin of natural gas as a biological phenomenon, there is no prospect of it contributing in an important way to the world’s energy requirements much beyond the last years of this century. Gold advances a considerable body of evidence in favour of his theory. He argues that natural gas emerges in mud-volcanoes, which sometimes occur in regions where there is no expectation of biogenic deposits being present. Gold also argues strongly for a connection between the emergence of natural gas from the Earth and the occurrence of earthquakes. He points out that eyewitness accounts of large earthquakes in antiquity contain remarks such as ‘the sky was alight’ or ‘flames shot out of the ground’, which could have been escaping gas subjected to spark ignition.
