Natural gas reserves are only those gas deposits that scientists know, or strongly believe, can be recovered given today's prices and drilling technology. In other words, when scientists estimate the amount of known gas reserves, they do not include gas deposits that may be discovered in the future or gas deposits that are not economical to produce given today's prices. The United States has large reserves of natural gas. If we continue to use natural gas at the same rate as we use it today, the United States has about a 50-year supply of natural gas, though another 200 years of additional gas supplies could be produced if people are willing to pay more for the gas they use. Because natural gas is cleaner than coal or petroleum, scientists are researching new ways to use and produce it.
Many scientists are interested in using natural gas to generate electricity.
A fuel cell is similar to a battery. Unfortunately, the technology to generate electricity from fuel cells must be improved if it is to be commercially successful. Methane gas is naturally produced whenever organic matter decays. Today we can drill shallow wells into landfills to recover the methane gas. Landfills are already required to collect methane gas as a safety measure.